News
Tentative Porgramme of the 2nd ISOFAR Conference
(May 6, 2008) The tentative programme of the ISOFAR conference, to be held June 18-20, 2008 in Modena, Italy, is now available at this homepage. Please visit this homepage for continual updates. Programme
ISOFAR Workshops June 17, 2008
(April 8, 2008) Prior to the ISOFAR Conference, on June 17, 2008 ISOFAR Workshops will held.Please check this web site for continual updates.
Contact: Daniel Neuhoff, ISOFAR
Registration for the IFOAM Organic World Congress / 2nd ISOFAR Conference now online
(April 3, 2008) Registration for the 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress which includes the 2nd ISOFAR conference is now possible at the OWC hompepage (Form). A detailed conference brochure is available here.
There is a discount of 20 % for ISOFAR members and for members of the QLIF project. The early bird fee is available until April 15, 2008 (10 % discount).
Contact: Paola Bonfreschi, ModenaBio
Vision for an Organic Food and Farming Research Agenda 2025: Second public consultation
(April 3, 2008) The IFOAM EU Group and ISOFAR have joined forces in initiating the process of drawing up a Research Vision 2025 for Organic Food and Farming. This document aims to outline the future challenges in the area of food and agriculture and the potential of organic food and farming which emphasises sustainability, high quality, ethical concepts and social cohesion.
Therefore all interested are invited to comment until Monday, April 28, 2008, to the draft vision. This is the second public online consultation: stakeholders of the whole organic production and processing chain, the economic sector, the industry, national and regional authorities, researchers, European NGOs and the civil society are welcome to contribute to the document.
If you are interested in participating in this consultation, we ask you to state your comments online on the website www.organic-research.org.
Contact: Urs Niggli, FiBL
ISOFAR General Assembly
(April 3, 2008) The next General Assembly of ISOFAR will take place on Saturday, 21 June 2008, from 10 am and to 3 pm in Modena, Italy.
The General Assembly follows the Second ISOFAR Scientific Conference from 18 - 20 June conducted at the same place, see: http://www.isofar.org/modena2008/
Details including the agenda and location of the General Assembly will become available in the near future.
Contact: Daniel Neuhoff, ISOFAR
QLIF workshops during the Modena 2008 Conference
(March 10, 2008) The main contribution of the European Quality Low Input Food Project QLIF to the 2nd ISOFAR Conference will be the organisation of several interdisciplinary workshops. These workshops will aim to summarize and synthesize the results and data gained during the first four years of the QLIF project. In total, five workshops will be held. Workshop themes are: product quality; safety of foods; crop productivity; livestock productivity; resource efficiency. More
Proceedings of the first EUCARPIA symposium on Organic Plant Breeding now available
(February 8, 2008) The first EUCARPIA symposium on Organic Plant Breeding - Plant breeding for organic and sustainable, low-input agriculture: dealing with genotype-environment interactions - took place in Wageningen in November 2007. EUCARPIA is the European Association for Research on Plant Breeding. The event was organised in cooperation with Cost Action 860 (COST860 - Sustainable low-input cereal production: required varietal characteristics and crop diversity, SUSVAR), the European Consortium of Ecological Plant Breeding ECOPB, ISOFAR and the the Graduate School Production Ecology & Resource Conservation and Wageningen University.
The proceedings are now available at the Organic Eprints archive.
International Scientific Conference on Sustainable Farming Systems, in Slovakia in November
(February 1, 2008) The 5th International Scientific Conference on sustainable farming systems ECOMIT which will be held November 5 to 7, 2008 in Pieštany, Slovakia. The aim of the conference is to present and promote research results and experiences in the field of sustainable agriculture with emphasis on soil and climate change. Papers can be submitted until June 30. More
New book organic food safety and quality
(January 24, 2008) Due to increasing consumer demand for safe, high quality, ethical foods, the production and consumption of organic food and produce has increased rapidly over the past two decades. In recent years the safety and quality of organic foods has been questioned. If consumer confidence and demand in the industry is to remain high, the safety, quality and health benefits of organic foods must be assured. The new Handbook of organic food safety and quality provides a comprehensive review of the latest research in the area.
The Handbook of organic food safety and quality issued in 2007 provides a comprehensive review of the latest research in the area.
- Handbook of organic food safety and quality. Edited by J Cooper, C Leifert and U Niggli. Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge. More
New head of research at DARCOF
(November 6, 2007) ISOFAR Board member and treasurer Niels Halberg has been appointed as new Head of Research Centre by the Board of the Danish Research Centre of Organic Farming DARCOF. Niels Halberg has a long experince in multi-disciplinary research in organic food and farming, and comes from a position as senior scientist at the Department of Agroecology and Environment at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Aarhus. CV and further information can be found at his homepage.
Open letter to the German Minister of Agriculture regarding the German Federal Organic Farming Scheme
(November 5, 2007) ISOFAR President Professor Ulrich Köpke has written an open letter to the German Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection HorstSeehofer, about the planned cutbacks of funding for organic farming research under the German Federal Organic Farming Scheme BOEL. In the meantime, the the Ministry has annouced that the support for the organic sector will be continued.
Letter by Professor Ulrich Köpke
April 17-18, 2008: Conference 'Organic agriculture and climate change' in Clermont-Ferrand, France
(September 7, 2007) The International scientific conference 'Organic agriculture and climate change: The contribution that Organic agriculture and our dietary choices can make to the mitigation of global warming' will take place April 17-18, 2008 at ENITA in Clermont-Ferrand, Lempdes, France. This international conference will be the first scientific European meeting devoted to the impact of agricultural techniques and food habits on climate change. Deadline for contributions is October 15, 2007. More
Contributions for the Annals of Agrarian Science
(August 7, 2007) The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation BfN supports the State Agricultural Universities of Georgia and Armenia and the Agricultural Academy of Azerbaijan with the publication of the 'Annals of Agrarian Science', see http://agrscience.gol.ge
This scientific journal concentrates on agriculture. Recently a chapter on 'Ecological Agriculture and Nature Conservation was included'. Making organic farming and the links between agriculture and nature conservation more known to the journal's audience is one of the motivations of BfN to support the journal. Another motivation is to foster collaboration in the field of organic farming and nature conservation among Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and thereby contribute to exchange among countries that partly share a history of conflict.
In order to increase the number of articles, in English, BfN asks researchers to submit articles for publication in the journal, especially for the chapter 'Ecological Agriculture and Nature Conservation'. The 'Annals of Agrarian Science' can also be used by young scientists to publish their findings and gain experience in publishing. The journal is planning to introduce a review process, also with the aim to increase its international recognition. The content of the articles does not need to be geographically restricted to the Caucasus region.
- Contact: Dr. Bettina Hedden-Dunkhorst, Federal Agency for Nature Conservation BfN,
Head of Division of International Nature Conservation (II 1.3), Konstantinstr. 110, 53179 Bonn, Germany, Tel.: +49-(0)228-8491 1760, bettina.hedden-dunkhorst@bfn.de, http://www.bfn.de
June 9-12, 2008: EGF 2008 conference in Uppsala, Sweden
(July 9, 2007) The 22nd meeting of the European Grassland Federation EGF entitled 'Biodiversity and animal feed – future challenges for grassland production' will be held June 9-12, 2008 in Uppsala (Sweden).More
First Volume of the ISOFAR Scientific Series published: Long Term Field Experiments in Organic Farming
(May 18, 2006) The first volume of the ISOFAR Scientific Series has now been published. This book series presents the results of organic farming research carried out by members of the ISOFAR working group on long term field expperiments (LTE).
The volume "Long Term Field Experiments in Organic Farming" contains a selection of 12 long-term experiments conducted under different site conditions in Germany, the USA, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and Israel. Each experiment has a unique concept and scientific approach. But their common objective is to investigate characteristics of Organic Agriculture regarding key parameters of soil fertility, crop yield and quality.
