Organic farming is gaining more importance both in the world and in Slovenia. This way of farming has many positive effects on the environment, preserves biodiversity, reduces the environmental footprint, prevents leaching of substances into groundwater, etc. Organic production adds value to crops and is becoming an interesting market opportunity. As in other agricultural sectors around the world, organic production is on the rise in hops growing. Compared to other agricultural industries, percentage of organically grown hops is still quite small. There are 4 ha of hop fields in Slovenia, where hops are grown in an organic way, which was only 0.27% of all Slovenian hop fields in 2020. Hops is the host of many diseases and pests that have a direct impact on the quantity and quality of the crop. Due to the demanding control of diseases and pests, organic production is considered to be very demanding. The most economic damage is caused by diseases of hop downy mildew, hop powdery mildew, verticillium wilt of hops, viroids and pests, damson-hop aphid, two-spotted spider mite, european corn borer and hop flea beetle. Due to intensive cultivation, the pressure of pests is high. For the protection of hops in organic production, we have a limited list of products, most of these have a preventive effect. Greater emphasis is placed on choosing the location of the hop garden, on planting more resistant varieties to individual diseases and pests, mechanical control, biotic protection and keeping the plants in the best possible condition.
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