MONTEREY, CA - The Organic Grower Summit announced the second in its slate of six 2018 educational sessions. This month, summit organizers announced a session focused on managing the challenges of plant health in organic production systems entitled “Managing Organic Production Systems to Promote Plant Health.”

“In our national survey of organic farmers, pest and disease management emerged as a top priority, along with soil health,” said moderator Brise Tencer, Executive Director at the Organic Farming Research Foundation. “There's a wealth of new research available that addresses the unique challenges facing organic farmers and ranchers, and we are excited about the opportunity to get the latest information and resources out to more producers.”

According to a press release, the latest educational session to be announced will feature organic industry experts in plant health offering a deep dive discussion on maintaining plant health without the use of synthetic inputs to enhance plant nutrition or control pests and disease.

The 50-minute long educational session will address current research on organic crop fertility management practices and organic strategies for managing insect pests and diseases. Organic industry leaders will discuss new agronomic tools and organic products available to organic growers, as well as ecologically-based approaches to disrupt pest and disease cycles and improve plant health.

Panelists for the session, moderated by Tencer, will include:

• Ehsan Toosi, Director of Research and Development, True Organic Products
• Pam Marrone, Founder and CEO, Marrone Bio Innovations
• Tim Schultz, Vice President of Research and Development, Lundberg Family Farms

For more on this and other important news in the produce industry—organic and otherwise—keep reading AndNowUKnow.

Organic Grower Summit