Editing Crop rotation (section)

=== Organic farming ===

Crop rotation is a required practice, in the United States, for farms seeking [[organic certification]].<ref name="CFR">{{Cite web |title=§205.205 Crop rotation practice standard |url=http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=bb1b055be7cb998ecf03fe5d32653807&mc=true&node=se7.3.205_1205&rgn=div8 |publisher=CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS |access-date=4 May 2016}}</ref> The “Crop Rotation Practice Standard” for the [[National Organic Program]] under the [[Code of Federal Regulations|U.S. Code of Federal Regulations]], section §205.205, states that

{{blockquote |Farmers are required to implement a crop rotation that maintains or builds soil organic matter, works to control pests, manages and conserves nutrients, and protects against erosion. Producers of perennial crops that aren’t rotated may utilize other practices, such as cover crops, to maintain [[soil health]].<ref name=coleman2012/>}}

In addition to lowering the need for inputs (by controlling for pests and weeds and increasing available nutrients), crop rotation helps organic growers increase the amount of biodiversity their farms.<ref name=coleman2012/> Biodiversity is also a requirement of organic certification, however, there are no rules in place to regulate or reinforce this standard.<ref name=coleman2012/> Increasing the biodiversity of crops has beneficial effects on the surrounding ecosystem and can host a greater diversity of fauna, insects,<ref name=coleman2012/> and beneficial microorganisms in the soil<ref name=coleman2012/> as found by McDaniel et al 2014 and Lori et al 2017.<ref name="Saleem-et-al-2019">{{cite journal |last1=Saleem |first1=Muhammad |last2=Hu |first2=Jie |last3=Jousset |first3=Alexandre |title=More Than the Sum of Its Parts: Microbiome Biodiversity as a Driver of Plant Growth and Soil Health |journal=[[Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics]] |publisher=[[Annual Reviews (publisher)|Annual Reviews]] |volume=50 |issue=1 |date=2 November 2019 |issn=1543-592X |doi=10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110617-062605 |pages=145–168 |s2cid=199632146 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Some studies point to increased nutrient availability from crop rotation under organic systems compared to conventional practices as organic practices are less likely to inhibit of beneficial microbes in soil organic matter.<ref name="mader2000">{{cite journal |last=Mäder |first=Paul |display-authors=etal |year=2000 |title=Arbuscular mycorrhizae in a long-term field trial comparing low-input (organic, biological) and high-input (conventional) farming systems in a crop rotation |journal=Biology and Fertility of Soils |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=150–156 |doi=10.1007/s003740050638 |bibcode=2000BioFS..31..150M |s2cid=6152990}}</ref>

While [[multiple cropping]] and [[intercropping]] benefit from many of the same principals as crop rotation, they do not satisfy the requirement under the [[National Organic Program|NOP]].<ref name=coleman2012/>