"How Many Organic Treatments Have Been Proved?

I mean by university or USDA research."

Many. But not all.

Your question covers a very very wide area, Gonebananas. The USDA and universities all over the world have done mountains of research on agriculture, including research on various aspects of organic agriculture.

There's also meta-questions about the nature of funding of the USDA and universities -- and the research directions their funders actively encourage (or discourage) them to pursue -- which enter into the larger picture, too.

In short: answering your short question ain't (IMO) easy, or simple.

All the best,
-Patrick

Many have. Two that come to mind:

1. The cornmeal treatments we are using for some plant fungi such as lawn Brown Patch originated at UGA and U of Iowa as a part of their experiments to control diseases of the peanut crop.

2. And this one is important for those plagued by deer fly as it may save your sanity. Read about it by searching "The Trolling Deer Fly Trap".

Thanks.

I should have added the obviously successful soaps and sulfur to the recognized list.

Some products are so in the current interest, and been for a number of years now, that one would think that there would be by now a widely accepted "yea or nay." Neem products, for instance.

I know there will always be a problem with defining effective. A colleague calls it the difference between happening and working. If something reduces root knot nematodes by 5% it happens, if it reduces them 95+% it works. In either case though the sellers can legally claim "reduces root knot nematodes." The less honest could claim "eliminates" for indeed some are eliminated. The other side of the problem is that many university researchers are focused on big agriculture. It might work well enough for us in the backyard but is a failure to them if not efficient in action, cost, as well as logistics. Thus it gets labeled not effective.

There has actually been a great deal of research into the pesticidal properties of neem oil. This is not a new product - it has been around for centuries and empirical data gathered over the years is the basis for its popularity now as a natural biocontrol. If you do a Google search under "research, neem", you should turn up a good many citations although most of them are scientific abstracts that require membership or payment to access. This is not exactly light reading for most so the the info is published to a limited readership. It's generally not until a product makes a lot of waves or elicits controvery does it get included in the general media.

But the research is there.

Neem oil is awesome stuff. I had a scale infestation on some of my outdoor palm trees that was neutralized by one application of Neem Oil. I highly recommend it.

The shortest answer to your question is probably Integrated Pest Management.

Your local Master Gardeners group can answer your question in more detail. The whole premise of that organization is to provide research-based information to the gardening public. They are affiliated with your state's agricultural university and have already sifted through, summarized, and simplified the huge body of research so that the average person can understand and use it.

They also would be able to recommend methods or products suitable for your specific area, since what works in one place won't always work the same somewhere else. If you ask for organic methods only, they should be able to give that specific information to you; otherwise they will recommend whatever research shows is most effective, whether it is organic or not.

Just to clarify, MGs will recommend treatments for a problem starting with non-toxic (organic), but that research indicates will work. They also give people info about more toxic options if the first ones don't work and if you want to use them.

Maybe I'm confused but I don't see how IPM is an answer to the OP's question. I thought he was asking how many of the commonly accepted organic pesticides have undegone any scientific study into their effectiveness. If they have an EPA classification as a pesticide, then they have undergone extensive testing for at least toxicity and safety issues. It may be a bit of a presumption but I doubt any pesticide distributor is going to waste time and money on expensive and required laboratory testing to receive EPA approval if the product is not effective in its intent.

'Organic' or organically derived pesticides that have received EPA approval and classification include copper sulfate, azadirachtin (neem extract as insecticide only), Bt, sulfur, rotenone, and pyrethrins and pyrethroids. It should be noted that the toxicity rating on some of these is pretty high, while others - like the Neem and Bt - are of relatively low toxicity. Azadirachtin carries the lowest possible toxicity rating of IV or relatively non-toxic.

Yes, you are confused. "Treatments" mean more than things you spray.

Well, excuse me! The OP wasn't asking for specific suggestions - he/she merely wanted to know what sort of testing procedure these commonly used products had undegone. Not all pesticides are sprayed but they are all "treatments" - they are an attempt to control or mitigate a pest or disease problem. If they are registered, they have been tested. Biocontrols are the same but it's a bit difficult to test the efficacy of living organisms (too many variables) so there is more reliance on empirical data.

Perhaps you'd like to define "treatments" and how you feel IPM answers the testing for effectiveness issue?

That makes two of us who are confused, gardengal! (smile)

Anyway, gonebananas, there's been years and years of world wide scientific study on neem and Clandosan.

To add to Nandina's list: corn gluten meal has been proved to be successful as a pre-emergent herbicide. And there is alot of activity centered around the study of worm castings....having anti-fungal AND anti-insect properties. (Those are the two right off the top of my head.)

I tried that Nature's Avenger and it works! I sprayed it on my driveway and arouond my fences and my dog runs. The next day all of it was brown. And it smelled like oranges. Bizarre. check out their site naturesavenger.com. They are approved by the EPA, National organic Program and OMRI. They seem legit and it worked.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nature's Avenger Organic Weed Killer

I'm sitting here wondering where the list came from? I've been on an organic program since 2002 and never once considered using any of the materials on the list?

If I was mentoring a group of students at a university I would start with quantifying the effects of various protein sources as they decompose through microbial activity into plant nutrients and pest protection for both soil biology and plants. The list presented looks like a list of last resorts for people who are not really on a full organic program. Or perhaps for people who are growing plants ill adapted to the climate or soil conditions. I am finding that the more I pay attention to the general health of the plant (with protein sources on the soil (primarily corn meal) and in the foliage (primarily milk)), the pests don't ever come.

Thanks all. Interesting comments.

It still is hard to figure out what has a high liklihood of working in some and perhaps many cases. For instance, cladosan. We hear testimonials and reference to testing, but when I talk with a long-establish professional nematode researcher at the University of Georgia he completely dismisses it. So which is it? It doesn't help that the decriptions of some of the less-direct methods have similarities to vitamin and herbal hocus pocus. I can readily imagine how protein and milk might have real benefit, and they well may, I don't discount that, but I also have read of the food fads and milk bath fads of old and they leave an uncomfortable echo. Because each of us shouldn't have to try to test everything ourselves, this is why there should be some independent concensus. A Consumer Labs sort of arrangement, even if mainly compiled from other sources. And personally, I'm sorry to say, I don't find the Master Gardeners all that helpful. They would be to a novice, but if you have read the ag bulletins yourself you know as much as they do except in their one or two specialties, and few know fruit where I am.

IPM is not an organic approach. While it follows some of the same steps and processes as organic agriculture, it also incorporates into its kit of tools substances no organic gardener or farmer would use, such as chemical pesticides.

Wayne