The term Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) can refer to any collection of specific methods, which when applied to agriculture, produces results that are in harmony with the values of the proponents of those practices. There are numerous competing definitions of what methods constitute "Good Agricultural Practices", so whether a practice can be considered "good" will depend on the standards you are applying.
The remainder of this article describes one particular definition of "Good Agricultural Practices" as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
Good Agricultural Practices are a collection of principles to apply for on-farm production and post-production processes, resulting in safe and healthy food and non-food agricultural products, while taking into account economical, social and environmental sustainability.
GAPs may be applied to a wide range of farming systems and at different scales. They are applied through sustainable agricultural methods, such as integrated pest management, integrated fertilizer management and conservation agriculture. They rely on four principles:
The concept of GAPs has changed in recent years because of a rapidly changing agriculture, globalization of world trade, food crisis (mad cow disease), nitrate pollution of water, appearance of pesticide resistance, soil erosion...
GAPs applications are being developed by governments, NGOs and private sector to meet farmers and transformers needs and specific requirements. However, many think these applications are only rarely made in a holistic or coordinated way.
They provide the opportunity to assess and decide on which farming practices to follow at each step in the production process. For each agricultural production system, they aim at allowing a comprehensive management strategy, providing for the capability for tactical adjustments in response to changes. The implementation of such a management strategy requires knowing, understanding, planning, measuring, monitoring, and record-keeping at each step of the production process. Adoption of GAPs may result in higher production, transformation and marketing costs, hence finally higher costs for the consumer. To minimize production costs and maintain the quality of agri-food, ACIAR offers a series of advisable online publications to benefit farmers [2]
GAPs require maintaining a common database on integrated production techniques for each of the major agro-ecological area (see ecoregion), thus to collect, analyze and disseminate information of good practices in relevant geographical contexts.
The United States Department of Agriculture currently operates an audit/certification program to verify that farms use Good Agricultural Practices and/or Good Handling Practices. Unlike the FAO guidelines, the USDA guidelines focus on food safety, and do not address topics such as animal welfare, biodiversity, or the use of antibiotics and hormones. The program was developed after the New Jersey Department of Agriculture petitioned the USDA to create a GAP & GHP audit program as the result of farmers being asked by wholesale buyers to demonstrate their adherence to GAP and GHP.
The USDA GAP/GHP guidelines and principles are based upon a 1998 Food & Drug Administration publication entitled, "Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables."