Organic farming research

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Organic Farming Research is the scientific development of the resources, production, frame and marketing conditions in the field of organic farming.

Organic farming research in Germany

The chemist Ehrenfried Pfeiffer tried as early as 1921 to use scientific methods to prove the effectiveness of biodynamic preparations and is therefore considered a pioneer of organic farming research together with the natural scientist Lili Kolisko , who worked on the same proof of effectiveness with pot tests.

In 1939 the agronomist Eve Balfour started the first overall comparison of different farming systems.

In 1950 the Institute for Biodynamic Research was founded in Darmstadt as the first ecological research institute. In 1973 the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL) followed in Switzerland, which is known worldwide today. FiBL internationalized and networked organic farming research and a. through scientific conferences of the International Association of Organic Farming Movements (IFOAM), founded in 1972 .

In 1981 the first professorship for organic agriculture was established in Witzenhausen (University of Kassel / Witzenhausen), followed by the Institute for Organic Agriculture at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Bonn (1990).

At the Witzenhausen site of the University of Kassel, the " Organic Agricultural Sciences " course, which is still unique in Germany, was established in 1996 . Gradually more than 20 professorships and coordination offices for organic farming have been created at various universities.

State research

All agricultural research in 2013 will be financed by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) with 494 million euros; around 509 million euros are earmarked for 2014. Only around 2.2 percent of this goes into research on organic farming.

The institutional university research structures are as follows: There is a faculty for organic farming (University of Kassel / Witzenhausen), two courses in “Organic Farming” (University of Kassel / Witzenhausen, Eberswalde University of Applied Sciences) and individual professorships at other universities.

In 2000, the Federal Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (now the Thünen Institute) was founded in Trenthorst (Schleswig-Holstein), although it is one of the smallest of the 49 departmental research institutes.

In 2001, the then red-green federal government established its own federal organic farming program (BÖL), which among other things serves to finance organic farming research. In 2011, however, this program was expanded to include an addition and since then has been called the Federal Program for Organic Farming and Other Forms of Sustainable Land Management (BÖLN). This means that it no longer serves exclusively to promote organic farming projects.

Private sector research

In addition to departmental research, there are numerous private-sector research institutions and foundations that have been active in this field, e. B. the Ecology & Agriculture Foundation (SÖL), FiBL (with headquarters in Switzerland and other branches in Germany and Austria) or the Research Ring for Biodynamic Economy (formerly: Institute for Biodynamic Research).

Knowledge transfer and programs

Around 400 knowledge transfer events have been held in Germany every year since 2004, with the aim of putting research results into practice. This shows the importance and need of organic farming research. A database of the Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft (BÖLW) can be used to research what research needs the practitioners see.

Since 1991, the main actors in organic farming research have been meeting every two years at different locations for the organic farming science conference. In addition to the presentation of current scientific results, the conference also enables a debate on the situation of organic farming and the problem-solving approaches of science, the market and politics. The organizers of this conference are the agricultural universities and the Ecology & Agriculture Foundation.

Organic farming research in Europe

Organic farming has been promoted in many European countries for several decades. So invested z. For example, Denmark in the DARCOF program between 1996 and 2010, the Netherlands have been funding organic farming research with 10 million euros annually since 2000 and France's Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) has supported the AgriBio research program with five million euros since 1999. Similar investments are being made in Italy. In Austria, the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU) as well as the teaching and research center Raumberg-Gumpenstein are researching with an estimated budget of over 15 million euros.

TPorganics

In 2007 the European technology platform “Organics” (TPorganics for short) was initiated with the aim of bundling the needs of the organic sector in the field of research and being able to better represent it to donors and policy makers. TPorganics is supported by around 20 European umbrella organizations and 18 companies as well as by national ministries. The initiative emerged from the collaboration between the IFOAM-EU regional group and the International Society for Research in Organic Agriculture (ISOFAR), supported by FiBL. In December 2008 the platform published a “Research Vision for Organic Agriculture and Food Sector 2025”. Building on this, the strategic research agenda was developed in 2009 with the involvement of numerous actors, with the participation of over 300 actors from research, consulting, practice, business and other organizations. In the process, key research topics on organic agriculture and food management were identified and sorted according to priorities. Based on this, an action plan with specific implementation proposals was developed.

Research program CORE Organic

The CORE Organic Initiative was launched in 2004 as part of the ERA-NET program to promote cross-border cooperation and coordination of national research programs. The aim of the initiative is to strengthen European research on organic farming. In order to be able to make better use of existing resources, national and regional research programs on organic farming should be more closely linked. For this purpose, fields of research are identified and funded in which transnational cooperation makes sense. With the participation of eleven member states, eight transnational research projects in the fields of animal health, food quality and marketing with a total budget of 8.3 million euros were carried out between 2007 and 2011. In 2010 the follow-up program CORE Organic II started with the participation of 21 member states. The total budget of 15 million euros this time was used to fund 14 research projects.

Research Framework Program

The European Union bundles its funding programs for research and development in research framework programs . The framework programs specify subject areas for which research institutions can submit project proposals and apply for funding. Numerous projects related to organic farming were also implemented in this way. In the current seventh research framework program (2007–2013), this is mainly done through the subject area “Food, Agriculture, Fisheries, Biotechnology”. The funds made available by the EU for research into organic farming have increased from a few 100,000 euros a year at the beginning to around ten million euros a year at present. The largest project on organic farming "QualityLowInputFood" funded by the research framework program to date was subsidized with 12 million euros.

Innovations

As part of the EUROPA 2020 economic program, the “European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability” was launched in 2012. Its aim is to ensure increases in agricultural productivity based on sustainable and resource-saving forms of cultivation. Accordingly, two core goals have been set that are to be achieved by 2020:

  • The trend of falling productivity increases in agriculture is to be reversed.
  • As an indicator of sustainable management, the function of the soil should be kept at a satisfactory level.

To achieve this, the European Union considers stronger innovation efforts to be essential. The innovation partnership therefore aims to better network the various actors in the field of agricultural research and practice, thereby ensuring faster technology transfer from science to practice. As part of the innovation partnership, a focus group “Organic Agriculture” was set up to deal with ways of optimizing crop yields in organic farming.

International organic farming research

ISOFAR

In 2003 the International Scientific Society of Research for Organic Agriculture (ISOFAR) was founded in Berlin. Only private individuals (researchers) can become members. The aim of ISOFAR is to offer scientists who (want to) research the subject of organic farming a platform for information and communication that is independent and purely scientific. ISOFAR has around 170 active and more than 900 passive members in almost 100 countries. Following the founding president Ulrich Köpke, Sang Mok Sohn, professor at Dankook University South Korea, has been president of the organization since 2011. ISOFAR organizes the scientific part of the IFOAM World Organic Congress, which takes place every three years, and publishes the proceedings of the International Scientific Conference of ISOFAR, as well as the journal Organic Agriculture .

TIPI

At BioFach 2013, the Technology Innovation Platform of the International Association of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM (Technology Innovation Platform of IFOAM - TIPI) was founded. The aim of TIPI is to advance research and innovations in organic farming on an international level and to better network the actors involved. The exchange between researchers and between research and practice is to be improved. First, a joint research strategy is to be developed. The president is Urs Niggli , director of the Swiss FiBL.

Magazines

  • Organic Agriculture (peer-reviewed, English)
  • Ecology & Agriculture (German)

See also

literature

  • Ecology & Agriculture No. 167, 3/2013
  • Freyer, B. (Ed.) 2016. Organic farming. Basics, level of knowledge and challenges. utb Stuttgart, 712 pages.

Web links

  • forschung-oekolandbau.info Information portal on research in the field of organic farming
  • Organic Eprints - Archive for scientific publications on organic farming
  • BÖLN - Federal program for organic farming and other forms of sustainable agriculture
  • Organic-research.net Information portal for research in the field of organic farming
  • ISOFAR International Society of Organic Agriculture Research
  • TIPI Technology Innovation Platform of the International Association of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)
  • TPorganics technology platform TPorganics
  • Research Ring for Biological-Dynamic Economy eV
  • Scientific conference on organic farming

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d U. Niggli and G. Rahmann: Research: Driving Force for Changes In: Ökologie & Landbau 167.3 / 2013 pp. 12-14
  2. ^ Biodynamic farming and research ring e. V. ( Memento of February 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved August 15, 2013
  3. ↑ Public research funds for organic farming ( Memento from September 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 118 kB) Ecology & Agriculture 167.3 / 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013
  4. ^ Website of the Thünen Institute for Organic Agriculture. Retrieved August 15, 2013
  5. ^ Website of the federal program for organic farming and other forms of sustainable agriculture. Retrieved August 15, 2013
  6. ↑ Moewius, J .: Contribution to the 12th Scientific Conference 2013 on organic farming (PDF, 31 kB) Accessed August 15, 2013
  7. ↑ BÖLW database research ideas ( memento from November 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved on August 14, 2013
  8. ^ Website of the Scientific Conference on Organic Farming. Retrieved August 14, 2013
  9. ↑ TPOrganics website ( Memento from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved August 15, 2013
  10. ↑ Research vision 2025 for the organic agriculture and food industry (PDF; 16.4 MB) on orgprints.org. Retrieved August 15, 2013
  11. ↑ Article ( Memento from June 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on forschung.oekolandbau.de Retrieved on August 15, 2013
  12. ↑ Press release on CORE Organic Retrieved on August 15, 2013
  13. ↑ U. Niggli: Innovation in Organic Agriculture - Where should the journey go? In: Ökologie & Landbau 167.3 / 2013 pp. 19–21
  14. ↑ Organic-Research.net ( Memento from February 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Overview of research projects on organic farming that were funded by the research framework programs . Retrieved August 15, 2013
  15. ↑ QualityLowInputFood in the CORDIS database. Retrieved August 14, 2013
  16. ↑ Press release of the European Commission on the European Innovation Partnerships. Retrieved August 14, 2013
  17. ↑ EIP focus group on organic farming on the website of the European Commission. Retrieved August 15, 2013
  18. ↑ ISOFAR website . Retrieved August 16, 2013
  19. ↑ G. Rahmann and U. Köpke: International ecological research - global networking increasingly important In: Ökologie & Landbau 167,3 / 2013 pp. 26–28
  20. ^ TIPI website . Retrieved August 16, 2013