Urs Niggli

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Urs Niggli (born August 6, 1953 in Wolfwil , Canton of Solothurn , Switzerland ) is a Swiss agricultural scientist and pioneer of organic farming . From 1990 to March 2020 he headed the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Frick, Aargau .

Education and career

Growing up in Wolfwil, Canton Solothurn, Niggli attended the Olten Cantonal School and the old Aarau Cantonal School . After studying agricultural sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich , he carried out research on weeds from 1980 to 1982 at the Federal Research Institute for Crop Production (FAP) in Zurich-Reckenholz (today: Agroscope). He then did his doctorate under Josef Nösberger on the subject of weed physiology ; he completed his dissertation in 1985. From 1985 to 1989 he headed the weed biology department at the Federal Research Institute for Fruit, Viticulture and Horticulture (FAW) in Wädenswil (now Agroscope). From 1990 to March 2020 he was director of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Frick. Since April 2020 the director of the Institute for Sustainable Food and Agriculture Systems he founded agroecology.science. At the same time he is a scientific advisor at Agroscope .

Urs Niggli has four grown children and lives in Frick.

Head of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL)

As director of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Niggli was responsible for its administrative and financial management, the strategic orientation and positioning of FiBL worldwide, the overall scientific coordination and the maintenance of national and international contacts as well as fundraising.

Under his leadership, the number of employees at FiBL Switzerland rose from 20 in 1990 to almost 200 today (as of 2018).

During this period the institute was expanded into an internationally renowned research facility; FiBL can now show that it has participated in over 50 projects in the European Union's research framework programs and in numerous other projects, for example those of the Swiss National Science Foundation . At the same time, FiBL attaches great importance to the dialogue with practice, and it provides extensive information such as videos, information sheets, manuals and specialized websites.

Further important stages since 1990 have been the securing or increasing of financial support for FiBL by the Swiss Confederation (service mandate to FiBL).

Niggli strongly advocated the move of FiBL from Oberwil , Canton Basel-Landschaft , to Frick, Canton Aargau, after the agricultural school there was closed in 1996. Other milestones were the inauguration of the new laboratory building in 2007 by the then FiBL Foundation Council President and former Federal Councilor Otto Stich, as well as the planning of the FiBL campus, which has been tackled since 2017 with money from the Lottery Fund of the Canton of Aargau.

FiBL has developed into an institute with a strong national presence, from which many important impulses for organic farming emanate. In 1999, for example, Bioinspecta, the largest Swiss organic inspection agency, was founded. This emerged from the FiBL control service founded in 1990. FiBL is still the largest shareholder and Niggli is represented on the board of directors.

Another milestone was the 13th World Organic Agriculture Conference IFOAM (2000), which Niggli applied to hold for FiBL in 1998 at the 12th Organic Agriculture Conference in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The conference with the motto “The World Grows Organic”, which took place in Basel from August 28 to September 2, 2000 , greatly boosted FiBL's international reputation.

Institutional strengthening of organic farming in Europe and worldwide

As a result of the World Organic Farming Conference IFOAM 2000, the international work of FiBL was greatly expanded, and FiBL was able to create important structures for the development of organic farming.

Two independent FiBL locations were created in the 2000s: FiBL Germany in 2000 and FiBL Austria in 2004. FiBL Europe, the representation of all FiBL in Brussels, was founded in 2017. Urs Niggli was its first President and also represented on the boards of FiBL Germany and FiBL Austria. Since June 2020 chairman of FiBL Austria. In 2011 the Hungarian Research Institute for Organic Farming ÖMKI and in 2016 the FiBL France branch in the Drôme department was established.

Urs Niggli is also strongly committed to international cooperation in organic farming research. Together with Ulrich Köpke , then head of the Institute for Organic Agriculture at the University of Bonn, he founded the International Society for Research in Organic Agriculture (ISOFAR) in 2003 . Furthermore, in 2007 Niggli initiated the establishment of the TP Organics technology platform, the first meeting of which took place in 2007 in Hagenthal-le-Bas , Alsace . Under Niggli's leadership, the vision of TP Organics arose in 2008, in which the challenges and needs of organic farming research in Europe are listed. In the meantime, TP Organics has become an important institution that brings the concerns of organic farming into EU research framework programs. In 2011 Niggli initiated the international counterpart to TP Organics, namely TIPI, the technology innovation platform from IFOAM - Organics International (International Association of Organic Farming Movements). Niggli is President of TIPI.

Teaching and advisory activities

Since 1994 Niggli has been a lecturer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, where he offers various lectures on organic farming. Since 2009 he has been an honorary professor at the University of Kassel, Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences , where he lectures on EU agricultural policy. In 2012 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Estonian University of Environmental Sciences in Tartu and in 2019 he was made an honorary professor at the Agricultural University of China in Beijing .

In 2014, Niggli was entrusted with the management of the peer review of agricultural research at the colleges and universities in Lower Saxony, which was completed in 2015.

Since 2019 he has been a member of the Agroscope Council , the Swiss competence center for agricultural research.

Publications

Urs Niggli has published numerous publications on the topics of soil fertility, biodiversity, sustainable agriculture and nutrition in leading peer-reviewed journals.

Many of his publications have initiated or critically accompanied important developments in organic farming. This includes, for example, the vision of the European technology platform TP Organics ("Vision for an Organic Food and Farming Research Agenda to 2025"), with which a future picture for European organic farming research was drawn up for the first time and the research requirements for organic farming were presented across Europe. Also worth mentioning is the paper "Bio 3.0 - with organic to modern sustainable agriculture" - a strategy paper for the further development of organic farming. This was drawn up by a working group with representatives of the German, Austrian and Swiss organic associations under the leadership of Urs Niggli.

Urs Niggli is repeatedly asked to speak on various topics relating to organic farming.

Current offices and memberships

  • Since 2020: Member of the Scientific Group of the UN Secretary-General in preparation for the 2021 Food System Summit in New York
  • Since 2020: Director of agroecology.science
  • Since 2020: Scientific advisor at Agroscope
  • Since 2019: Honorary Professor at the Agricultural University of China
  • Since 2016: Member of the Advisory Commission of the Institute for Agricultural Sciences at ETH Zurich
  • Since 2016: Member of the Swiss FAO Committee (CNS-FAO)
  • Since 2014: Board member of the Swiss-Austrian company EASY-CERT AG
  • Since 2013: President of TIPI, the technology innovation platform of IFOAM - Organics International (International Association of Organic Farming Movements).
  • Since 2004: Member of the Board of Directors of the Bioinstitute in Olomouc, Czech Republic
  • Since 2004: Deputy Chairman of FiBL Austria, President since 2020
  • Since 2002: Vice-President of the Board of Directors of bio.inspecta AG (Switzerland and one of the largest inspection and certification companies for agricultural, processing and trading companies in the world)
  • Since 2001: Chairman of FiBL Germany

Honors

  • 2008: Prix Bio der Bioterra for services to organic farming in Switzerland

Controversy about CRISPR / Cas

In an interview in the taz in April 2016, Niggli spoke about the CRISPR / Cas method in relation to plant breeding. In it he pointed out the possible risks of the CRISPR / Cas method, but also attributed great potential to it and took some positions that contradict those of the organic sector.

Niggli assessed the decision of the European Court of Justice in July 2018 that the new breeding methods fall under the genetic engineering legislation as positive, as the precautionary principle is weighted very heavily, especially since the importance of the precautionary principle in other agricultural technologies is underdeveloped. This included, for example, the use of pesticides, nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers and the use of antibiotics, where the damage is now clearly visible, says Niggli. However, he is of the firm opinion that risks and potentials must be objectively weighted in discussions.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Urs Niggli's personal webpage on the website of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture
  2. ↑ Aargauer Zeitung of August 18, 2018: "Bio-Popst": This is the man behind the international success of organic research in Aargau
  3. ↑ Report on FiBL.org from March 31, 2020: Farewell after 30 years as director of FiBL Switzerland
  4. ↑ Urs Niggli with new responsibilities: for the United Nations and Agroscope
  5. ↑ Milestones of FiBL on the website of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture
  6. ↑ EU projects with FiBL participation on the website of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture
  7. ↑ FiBL shop with numerous practical information on the website of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture
  8. ↑ Milestones of FiBL on the website of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture
  9. ↑ FiBL invests in Switzerland as a research location - FiBL President former Federal Councilor Otto Stich hands over the scepter to his successor Martin Ott, report on FiBL.org of April 19, 2007
  10. ↑ Aargau supports the expansion of FiBL, report on FiBL.org dated December 12, 2016
  11. ↑ Bioinspecta
  12. ^ Alföldi, Thomas, William Lockeretz, Urs Niggli (2000): Proceedings of the 13th International IFOAM Scientific Conference. Convention Center Basel, 28 to 31 August 2000. vdf Hochschulverlag at the ETH Zurich. on-line
  13. ↑ FiBL Europe celebrates its opening
  14. ↑ Urs Niggli is the new chairman of FiBL Austria
  15. ^ Website of TIPI, the technology innovation platform of the International Association of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM - Organics International
  16. ↑ University of Kassel in Witzenhausen appoints FiBL director Urs Niggli as honorary professor; Announcement of March 29, 2010 on the FiBL website
  17. ↑ FiBL director Urs Niggli receives an honorary doctorate; News from November 16, 2010 on the FiBL website
  18. ^ Honorary Professorship of the China Agricultural University for Urs Niggli; Announcement on the FiBL website from the Federal Council from May 16, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Scientific Commission Lower Saxony (2005) Research Evaluation Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences 2015 - Results Report, Office of the Scientific Commission Lower Saxony, Hanover.
  20. ↑ Extended Agroscope Council begins work; Announcement on the website of the Swiss Federal Council from May 16, 2019 .
  21. ↑ Personal homepage with a detailed curriculum vitae and a complete list of publications on the website of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture
  22. ^ Articles by Urs Niggli in the Organic Eprints archive
  23. ^ Articles by Urs Niggli in the Organic Eprints archive
  24. ↑ Niggli, Urs; Slabe, Anamarija; Schmid, Otto; Halberg, Niels and Schlüter, Marco (2008): Vision for an Organic Food and Farming Research Agenda to 2025 Technology Platform Organics. IFOAM Regional Group European Union (IFOAM EU Group), Brussels, and International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR), Bonn
  25. ↑ Niggli, Urs; Plagge, Jan; Reese, Steffen; Fertl, Thomas; Schmid, Otto; Brändli, Urs; Bärtschi, Daniel; Pöpsel, Gregor; Hermanowski, Robert; Hohenester, Hans and Grabmann, Gerti (2015): With organic to modern sustainable agriculture. A contribution to the discussion on organic or organic farming 3.0., Discussion paper
  26. ↑ Advisory Committee and Scientific Group for the 2021 Food Systems Summit
  27. ↑ Urs Niggli with new responsibilities: for the United Nations and Agroscope
  28. ^ Website of TIPI, the technology innovation platform of the International Association of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM - Organics International
  29. ↑ FiBL director Urs Niggli receives an honorary doctorate; News from November 16, 2010 on the FiBL website
  30. ↑ Bioterra awards Urs Niggli the Prix Bio 2008
  31. ↑ An interview with consequences: FiBL director Urs Niggli brings up with his point of view. Announcement on Organic Market Info from April 11, 2016
  32. ↑ FiBL director Urs Niggli challenges the organic sector, report on Bionetz.ch from April 19, 2016
  33. ↑ “The discussion starts from scratch”. Interview with Urs Niggli in the taz on July 28, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Niggli, Urs
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss agricultural scientist
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Wolfwil , Canton of Solothurn , Switzerland