ISOFAR Newsletter No. 3, November 2004

Dear Reader, dear colleague,

Organic Agriculture is increasing worldwide. This is due to several reasons. Among the most important driving forces are the results of scientific research on production ecology, quality of products and processes used, animal welfare, and impacts on nature, landscape and climate.

Modern societies are influenced by science. Most scientific results are expressed quantitatively, influencing public opinion as well as politics. For this reason alone, ISOFAR would like to support scientific research and bring more scientists under its roof.

In addition to empirically developed knowledge of catalogued successful farming practices that lead back to the qualitative and high value knowledge of organic farmers, the high reputation of Organic Agriculture is mainly based on the quality of organic research, which has gained the public attention in journals like Nature, Science, and New Scientist.

As recently announced by New Scientist in the beginning of 2005, a contribution of Hole et al. ‘Does organic farming benefit biodiversity?’ will be published in Biological Conservation 122. The authors extensively and predominately evaluated literature relating to the impacts of organic agriculture on species diversity and nature conservation, mostly in English. We hope to welcome these authors as ISOFAR members in the near future.

ISOFAR’s membership is steadily increasing. Again, I would like to encourage all researchers interested in the scientific inquiry of Organic Agriculture to become members of ISOFAR.

It was a pleasure to learn that the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) - the World Vegetable Center - has launched an Organic Agriculture program. This is an important development that might spur other international agricultural research centres to follow suit, and is a key element in the improvement of Organic Agriculture and the south – north partnership that can ensure the early development of ISOFAR. Scientific work on topics of Organic Agriculture has to be increased, both in quantity and quality.
Societal and political questions can be answered by the possible benefits of Organic Agriculture and its potential for environmentally sound and sustainable agriculture.

This demands the broadest expertise available. With its 12 sections and specific working groups, ISOFAR is convinced that it is laying the essential foundation to carry out high-quality scientific work in the future.
Thus, your membership in ISOFAR is essential. Please consider the call for papers and set aside time to join the International Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture in Adelaide next year. We are sure that your individual work and scientifically based developments in Organic Agriculture will profit through your membership.

We hope to have you on our side soon.

Ulrich Köpke
President ISOFAR

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Adelaide 2005: A major step for ISOFAR

Dear colleague

The Scientific Conference in Adelaide, taking place from 19 to 23 September 2005, will be the “baptism of fire” for our society and the major event after the launching ceremony in Berlin last summer. Therefore, I’d like to draw you attention to that conference.

What is Adelaide 2005?

Adelaide 2005 is the 15th IFOAM Organic World Congress, and its organisation rests on NASAA’s shoulders. NASAA, the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia, is Australia’s leading national and international organic certifier. They set up a unit under the co-ordination of Jan Denham, who is responsible for the day-to-day business of the Congress. ISOFAR which aims to promote the scientific debate on organic agriculture will help to organise the scientific part of Adelaide 2005.

Why is it a Congress with three conferences?

Adelaide 2005 will be an event which will cover a wide range of themes. It will be attractive for all: for organic farmers, for the organic business, for certifiers and standard harmonisers, and finally for scientists. To cover the different needs and to satisfy the heterogeneous “customers”, the Congress consists of three conferences, the IFOAM Conference Shaping Sustainable Systems, the Conference on Organic Viticulture and the Scientific Conference Researching Sustainable Systems.
The distinction between the conferences Shaping Sustainable Systems and Researching Sustainable Systems seems to be the cause of many misunderstandings. Indeed, the profiles of the two are still a bit blurred. Whilst the Shaping Conference will mainly focus on themes that concern the organic community in a very practical way (country reports, standardisation and certification, ethical and philosophical debates, the future of organic farming and organic markets, policies and promotion, case studies, etc.), the Researching Conference should be the platform of scientists. Therefore, we ask researchers and scientists to submit their papers to the Researching Sustainable Systems Conference. With this conference we aim to showcase the excellence of science and research work on organic farming systems and the organic food chain. With the involvement of ISOFAR, maximum benefit and support can be given to scientists. ISOFAR will support the organisers at NASAA with the program, with the review of the papers, and with their publication.

15 December: 1- or 2-page abstract? For ISOFAR 2 pages!

For the Shaping Conference and for the Conference on Viticulture, a 1-page abstract must be submitted by December 15th. For the Researching Conference, a 2-page abstract is requested. This was decided by the ISOFAR Board because we felt that the scientific quality of a paper can be better assessed in this extended version. Nevertheless, we hope that this requirement of a 2- page abstract won’t be an obstacle for you.

Is switching possible? Yes!

To avoid problems, NASAA and ISOFAR will exchange submitted papers very easily. When a paper comes in and either NASAA or ISOFAR judges that it is better suited for one of the other conferences, we will forward it immediately to that conference.

Abstracts for the Shaping and the Viticulture Conference should be submitted to http://www.sapro.com.au/ifoam/ifoam2005abstract.htm; the abstracts for the Researching Conference to conference2005@isofar.org.

But don’t be afraid of having chosen the wrong “entrance” for your abstract. NASAA and ISOFAR will take care to sort things out.

The 2nd step by February 15th

For the Scientific Conference (Researching Sustainable Systems), a 4-page short paper is required by February 15th. This will be refereed by the referee staff of ISOFAR. Please note, that only those contributions which have shown up suitable content and quality in the abstract, will be invited as 4 page short papers.

Proceedings

We plan to print a book of Proceedings ready for the conference with 4-page short papers. In that way, all relevant information with many figures and diagrams will be in the hands of the participants (which makes their life easier) and on the other hand, a final publication as an original paper (in its extended version) is still possible (many journals are very strict and won’t accept a paper that was already published in full length in a conference proceeding).

Publishing of the full papers in a refereed journal

After the conference, we want to publish a selection of the 30 best papers in full length in a refereed journal as a “Special Edition” . At the moment, we are negotiating with RAFS (Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems). This “Special Edition” will be paid for by ISOFAR and CABI and will be free for all subscribers of RAFS and for all members of ISOFAR.

Speakers are also free to decide whether they want to publish their paper in full length in a journal of their own choice. In that case, ISOFAR won’t provide any support, but the referee procedure for the conference might be helpful for improving the paper.

Referees

The overall scientific committee of the Researching Conference will be:

• Urs Niggli, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, FiBL, Switzerland
• Ulrich Köpke, Institute of Organic Agriculture, University of Bonn, Germany
• Erik Steen Kristensen, Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming, DARCOF, Denmark
• Helga Willer, FiBL, Switzerland
• Peter Cornish, School of Environment and Land Resources, University of Western Sydney
• Lyn Abbott, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Western Australia.

Experts of ISOFAR’s sections and working groups will help us to do the referee work, so that we will have specialised scientists in all fields where papers will be submitted. Nonetheless, all final decisions will be taken by the scientific committee, which Peter Cornish and Lyn Abbott are part of.

Venue

The whole event (IFOAM Congress with its three conferences) will be organised in the Adelaide Convention Centre. All organisational work is in the responsibility of NASAA. For the Scientific Conference Researching Sustainable Systems we expect about 120 oral presentations and many poster presentations. In addition, some scientists might be interested in having a booth or a table for a small exhibit. This can also be provided.

For ISOFAR, the Scientific Conference in Adelaide is our “going public”. It will be a strong motivation for becoming very active in our endeavour to promote organic farming research. Therefore, I’m looking forward to seeing you in Adelaide.

Urs Niggli

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Call for Papers for the Conference Researching Sustainable Systems, Adelaide, September 2005

The call for papers for the International Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture „Researching Sustainable Systems“ is available at the conference homepage. Abstracts should be submitted by December 15, 2004. If accepted, a short paper must be submitted by February 15, 2005. The paper must be submitted as a Word document, formatted according to the instructions for authors and the template. The completed submission form must be attached to the e-mail to be sent to conference2005@isofar.org.

Relevant Links

• International Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture - Researching Sustainable Systems
• Call with all documents (Submission Form; Instructions for authors for abstracts; Blank template for abstracts; Template for abstracts with explanations)

Please find the full call attached to this newsletter.
Please distribute the call among your colleagues and at conferences!
Please make a link to the conference homepage from your homepage, if possible.

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Heads and Vice heads of the ISOFAR Sections & Working Groups

Most section heads and vice heads have now been named. Their main task will be to prepare the sessions of he international conference on Organic Agriculture as well as to review the papers submitted to the conference.

Please find a list below.

ISOFAR Section 1: Arable Cropping Systems (ACS)

• Prof. Dr.Ulrich Köpke, Institute of Organic Agriculture (IOL), Univ. Bonn, D-53115 Bonn,
  E-Mail
• Prof. Dr.Martin Entz, Agronomy and Cropping Systems, Univ.Manitoba, CAN- Winnipeg, MB,
  E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 2: Grassland Systems (GLS)

• PD Dr.Andreas Lüscher, Forschungsanstalt für Agrarökologie und Landbau (FAL), CH-8046 Zürich, E-Mail
• Nilla Nilsdotter-Linde, SLU, Fältforskningsenheten, S-750 07 Uppsala,
  E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 3: Perennial Cropping Systems (PCS)

• Dr. Hanne Lindhard Pedersen, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Horticulture, DK-5792 Arslev, E-Mail
• Dr.Franco Weibel, FiBL, CH-5070 Frick, E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 4: Vegetable Production Systems (VPS)

• Prof. Dr.Mohamed Ben Kheder, Centre Technique de l'Agriculture Biologique
  B.P 54, Chatt Meriem , TN-4042 Sousse, E-Mail
• Prof. Dr.Carlo Leifert, Tesco Centre for Organic Agriculture, UK-NE43 7XD Stocksfield, Northumberland, E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 5: Soil Fertility (SOF)

• Prof. Dr.Sang Mok Sohn, Dan Kook University, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, KO-330-714 Cheonan, E-Mail
• Dr. Christine Watson, Land Management Department at SAC, UK- Aberdeen, AB21 9Ya,
  E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 6: Plant Breeding and Seed Production (PBS)

• Dr.Edith Lammerts van Bueren, Louis Bolk Instituut, NL-3972 LA Driebergen,
  E-Mail
• Dr. Hanne Østergård, Risø National Laboratory, Plant Research Department, DK-4000 Roskilde, E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 7: Animal Production Systems (APS)

• Dr. PDGerold Rahmann, Bundesforschungsanstalt für Landwirtschaft (FAL), Institut für ökologischen Landbau, D-23847 Westerau, E-Mail
• Prof. Dr.Albert Sundrum, Universität Kassel; Fachbereich Ökologische Agrarwissenschaften Fachgebiet Tierernährung und Tiergesundheit, D-37213 Witzenhausen,
  E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 8: Animal Health and Welfare (AHW)

• Dr. Malla Hovi, Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics Research, UK-RG6 6 Reading,
  E-Mail
• Dr. Stig Milan Thamsborg, Danish Centre for Experimental Parasitology, UK-1870 6 Frederiksberg C, E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 9: Socio-Economics

• Dr. Nicolas Lampkin, Institute of Rural Sciences, University of Wales, UK- SY23 3AL Aberystwyth Ceredigion, E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 9.1: Marketing

• Prof. Dr.Ulrich Hamm, Universität Kassel; Fachgebiet Agrar- und Lebensmittelmarketing, D-37213 Witzenhausen, E-Mail
• Dr.Toralf Richter, FiBL, Ackerstrasse /Postfach, CH-5070 Frick, E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 9.2: Sustainability

• Dr. John Erik Hermansen, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, DK-8830 Tjele,
  E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 9.3: Farm Economics

• Dr.Frank Offermann, Fal, Institut für Betriebswirtschaft, D-38116 Braunschweig,
  E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 9.4: Agropolicy

• Prof. Dr.Raffaele Zanoli, UNIVPM, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Informatica, Gestionale dell'Automazione (DIIGA), I-60131 Ancona, E-Mail
• Dr.Hiltrud Nieberg, FAL, Institut für Betriebswirtschaft, D-38116 Braunschweig,
  E-Mail

ISOFAR Working Group 1: Implications of Organic Principles for Research Methodology

• Dr.Erik Steen Kristensen, Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming (DARCOF), DK-8830 Tjele, E-Mail
• Lawrence Woodward, Elm Farm Research Centre, UK- Berkshire RG20 0HR, E-Mail

ISOFAR Working Group 2: Organic Agriculture and Biotechnology (OAB)

• Dr. Urs Niggli, FiBL, CH-5070 Frick, E-Mail
• Christopher Stopes, Eco-Stopes Consultancy, UK- Newbury, Berkshire, RG 14 - 6 PP, E-Mail

ISOFAR Working Group 3: Participatory and On-Farm Research (POR)

• Prof. William Lockeretz, Tufts University, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 150 Harrison Avenue, USA- Boston, Massachusetts 02111, E-Mail
• Dr. Prabha Mahale, IND-122 002 Gurgaon, Haryana, E-Mail

ISOFAR Working Group 4: Long-term experiments (LTE)

• Dr.Joachim Raupp, Institut für biologisch-dynamische Forschung e.V., D-64295 Darmstadt,
  E-Mail
• Dr.Paul Mäder, FiBL, CH-5070 Frick, E-Mail

ISOFAR Working Group 5: Rural and Regional Development (RRD)

• Prof. Dr.Bernhard Freyer, BOKU, Institut für ökologischen Landbau, A-1180 Wien,
  E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 10: Food Quality and health (FQH)

• Dr.Kirsten Brandt, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, UK-NE1 7RU Newcastle, United Kingdom, E-Mail
• Prof. Dr.Angelika Meier-Ploeger, Universität Kassel; Fachgebiet Ökologische Lebensmittelqualität und Ernährungskultur, D-37213 Witzenhausen,
  E-Mail

ISOFAR Section 11: Environmental Biodiversity Impact Assessment (EAS)

• N.N.

ISOFAR Section 12: Crop Protection and habitat management CPH)

• Prof. Dr.Miguel Altieri, University of California, Berkeley, US- Berkeley, CA 94720-3112,
  E-Mail
• Dr.Charles Ssekyewa, Uganda Martyrs University, Faculty of Agriculture
  UG- Kampala, Uganda, E-Mail

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Organic Farming Research News

Korea: Two major conferences supported by ISOFAR

September 8-11, 2004 the 3rd ARNOA International Conference on Organic Rice was held in Korea. ARNOA is the Asian Research Network of Organic Agriculture. The conference was organised by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture at Dan Kook University. ARNOA is going to finalise the work on standards for organic rice cultivation at the 4th ARNOA conference, which will be held in Aurangabad / India in the summer of 2005. The 6th IFOAM-Asia Scientific Conference was held in Korea, 7- 11th September 2004, also organised by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Dan Kook University. The 7th IFOAM-Asia conference will be held in Malaysia in the summer of 2007. The proceedings are available as a printed version and as a CD from the Institute of Organic Agriculture at Dan Kook University. Both events were organised by ISOFAR’s board member Prof. Dr. Sang Mok Sohn.

Further information

• ARNOA-Homepage
• Homepage of the Institute of Organic Agriculture at Dan Kook University

Contact

• Professor Dr. Sang Mok Sohn, Institute of Organic Agriculture at Dan Kook University, E-Mail

Does organic farming benefit biodiversity?

A paper to be published March 2005 in Biological Conservation (available already now at Science Direct) assesses the impacts on biodiversity of organic farming relative to conventional agriculture. A review of comparative studies of the two systems is provided in order to determine whether it can deliver on the biodiversity benefits its proponents claim. The paper identifies a wide range of taxa, including birds and mammals, invertebrates and arable flora that benefit from organic management through increases in abundance and/or species richness. It also highlights three broad management practices (prohibition/ reduced use of chemical pesticides and inorganic fertilisers; sympathetic management of non-cropped habitats; and preservation of mixed farming) that are largely intrinsic (but not exclusive) to organic farming, and that are particularly beneficial for farmland wildlife.

Reference

• D.G. Hole, A.J. Perkins, J.D. Wilson, I.H. Alexander, P.V. Grice , A.D. Evans: Does organic farming benefit biodiversity? Biological Conservation 122 (2005) 113–130. Available online at http://www.sciencedirect.com

Spain: Master on Organic Farming

The objective of the Master on Organic Farming at the University of Barcelona is to enable graduate agronomists, agricultural engineers, biologists, environmentalists and veterinarians to gain an extensive expert knowledge on practices and techniques of Mediterranean organic agricultural and livestock production, and to develop skills to work not only in agrarian administration, business areas of agriculture and related fields, but also science and research.

Contact

• Dr. F. Xavier Sans Serra, Plant Biology Department, University of Barcelona, Director of the Postgraduate Course on Organic Farming, Avda. Diagonal 645, Barcelona 08028, Spain, phone 34-93-4112842, E-Mail

Spain: Agroecomed, a new Organic Farming Network in Catalonia

The main objectives of the Organic Farming Network Agroecomed are to promote collaboration among Catalan research groups working on related and complementary topics to favour, in the future, participation in joint R & D projects supported by the Spanish and European governments and disseminate information to relevant sectors. The Network is co-ordinated by researchers of the University of Barcelona and was launched in November 2003. Seven research groups from Catalonia and one from the Balearic Islands (Spain) constitute the Agroecomed Network. Five of them belong to public universities and three to public research institutes. This Network also includes stakeholders, managers, advisors, persons in charge of Catalan scientific policy and various institutions involved in the ecological management of agroecosystems.

Contact

• Dr. F. Xavier Sans Serra, Network Co-ordinator, Plant Biology Department, University of Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 645, Barcelona 08028, Spain, Tel. +34 93 4021475, E-mail

Denmark: Higher antioxidant content in organic milk than in conventional milk due to feeding strategy

From May 2003 to February 2004 the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences (DIAS) studied the content of potential antioxidants and vitamins in organic and conventional milk. Once a month, a milk sample was taken from the silo tanks at the Arla Foods dairy plant In Hobro, where large amounts of organic and conventional milk are processed. The content of milk in the silo tanks at the time of sampling varied from 30,000 kg to more than 100,000 kg. The samples therefore represent milk from many herds. The studies covered a number of fat-soluble vitamins and the composition of fatty acids in the milk.

In the organic milk, higher concentrations of vitamin E and carotenoids were found. This is due to feeding differences between the conventional and organic production. The most important reason for the observed differences are presumably the large amounts of maize silage used in conventional production, whereas a considerable amount of grass and leguminous plants are used in organic production. If organic farmers wish to produce milk with a high level of vitamin E and carotenoids in the future, the share of maize in the feed rations should not be increased.

Contact

• Jacob H. Nielsen, Tina Lund-Nielsen, Dept of Food Science, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, and Leif Skibsted, Inst of Food Science, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University.

Further information

• http://www.darcof.dk/enews/sep04/milk.html

European Union: Joining resources to improve research in organic food and farming

CORE Organic (Coordination of European Transnational Research in Organic Food and Farming) is a new European initiative to enhance quality, relevance and resource utilisation in organic food and farming research. CORE Organic was initiated as a part of the European Commissions ERA-NET Scheme, which intends to step up co-operation between national research activities. The new initiative comprises 11 countries but is open to include all EU countries with a national research programme for research in organic food and farming. The activities of CORE Organic will include co-ordination and evaluation of existing research, integration of knowledge and information, and identification and co-ordination of future research. By the end of the project, the ambition is to have established a joint research programme of at least 3 million € per year. Annually, the combined spending on organic research activities in the 11 countries presently is approximately 60 million €.

Project website

• http://www.core-organic.org

Co-ordinator

• Dr Erik Steen Kristensen, Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming (DARCOF), Research Centre Foulum, DK-8830 Tjele, Phone: +45 8999 1675, fax: +45 8999 1673, E-mail, Website

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Events

January 6 - 9, 2005, Newcastle, UK : Conference Organic Farming, Food Quality and Human Health

The Conference Organic Farming, Food Quality and Human Health, to be held January 6 - 9, 2005 in Newcastle, UK, is organised by the Soil Association and University of Newcastle. It combines the Soil Association annual conference and the first stakeholder congress of the EU-Integrated Project QualityLowInputFood. Additional, the first day of the congress is organised by the EU-financed projects Blight-MOP and Organic HACCP, respectively. The two projects will each carry a parallel programme.
Conference Homepage

February 24 - 26, 2005, Biofach, Nuremberg: Various events

At Biofach 2005 several events related to organic farming research will take place. The exact times and places are not all available yet; please check in Frankfurt.

Principles of organic agriculture
Joint event between IFOAM and EU Project on the Revision of the Regulation 2092/91
Moderator: IFOAM Board member (possibly Liz Clay), assisted by Susanne Padel, Univ. Wales (both not confirmed yet)

• IFOAM´s work on principles, status for the rewriting process / Louise Luttikholt, IFOAM´s head office
• Identifying and integrating basic ethical values of OA in the development of the EU-regulation / Hugo Fjelsted Alrøe, DARCOF
• Examples of conflicting areas in the regulation of OA / Otto Schmid, FiBL
• Guided discussion (1 hour)

For more information see: IFOAM principles: www.ifoam.org à principles à ecowiki; EU Project Organic Revision: www.organic-revision.org

Harmonising the regulation of Organic Agriculture in the EU
Moderator: Erik Steen Kristensen, DARCOF, assisted by Francis Blake (not confirmed yet)

• Overview about harmonisation problems with inputs - recommended common evaluation criteria matrix/procedures for inputs in plant production / Bernhard Speiser, FiBL
• Overview of organic feed supply for pigs and poultry in the EU / Susanne Padel, Univ. Wales.
• Consequences of 100 % organic diets for pigs and poultry / Albert Sundrum, Univ. Kassel.

For more information see: EU Project Organic Revision: www.organic-revision.org; EU Project Organic Inputs: www.organicinputs.org

Organic Farming in Europe at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Market, Production, Policy & Research, February 24, 2005, 12-14 hs, Room Munich 3
Organised by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, with Urs Niggli, Toralf Richter, Otto Schmid, Matthias Stolze, Helga Willer (all FiBL)

Organic Market Data collection in Europe - Current state and prospects February 24, 2005, 14 – 15 hs, Room Munich 3
Contents: Current State of data collection in Europe, Problem areas: Concerted Future Strategies for Europe. The event is organised by the European Project EISFOM. With Ulrich Hamm (University of Kassel), Toralf Richter (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL), Helga Willer (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL)
For more information see project homepage at www.eisfom.org

Global organic farming and organic markets - the latest trends and figures, February 25, 2005, 10 to 11 hs, Room Brussels
Organised by SOEL, IFOAM and FiBL

• Minou Yussefi, Stiftung Ökologie & Landbau Global Statistics 2005
• The Global Market for Organic Food, Amarijt Sahota, Organic Monitor
• Organic Certification World-Wide, Beate Huber, FiBL Deutschland

March 1 - 3, 2005, Kassel Germany: 8th Scientific Conference in Organic Farming in the German Language Region (supported by ISOFAR )

Almost 300 papers have been submitted to the next Scientific Conference on Organic Farming in the German Language Region, which takes place biannually and gives a good overview of the current status of organic farming research. The papers will be available at the database Organic Eprints.
Conference Homepage

March 17 - 19, 2005, Frick, Switzerland: Systems development: Quality and safety of organic livestock products; 4th SAFO Workshop

For the fourth workshop of the European funded Network Sustaining Animal Health and Food Safety in Organic Farming, specific contributions are invited that focus on specific risk factors to food safety and quality of different organic livestock products in the whole food chain. The workshop will consist of plenary presentation and discussions in small working groups, and will include a farm visit. Abstracts must be submitted before November 25, 2004 to the SAFO workshop organiser:
Workshop Homepage

September 21 – 23, 2005, Adelaide Australia: Researching Sustainable Systems – International Scientific Conference on Organic Farming Research

The conference is co-ordinated by ISOFAR in co-operation with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA). The conference is a main module of the 15th IFOAM Organic World Congress, and will be held in Adelaide, Australia, 21 - 23 September 2005, followed by the ISOFAR general assembly, September 24, 2005. (See also information in this newsletter and attached call).
Conference Homepage

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Books and Resources

Proceedings: Organic Farming: Science and practice for profitable livestock and cropping

Organic Farming: Science and practice for profitable livestock and cropping. = Proceedings of the BGS Conference held at Harper Adams University College, on 20-22 April 2004. Edited by A Hopkins, 2004. No. 37 in the BGS Occasional Symposium Series. 269 pp, ISBN 0 905 944 844, ISSN 0572-7022

The aim of the joint conference of the British Grassland Society (BGS), the Association of Applied Biologists and the Colloquium of Organic Researchers (COR) was to focus on practical issues and applied research for registered and aspiring organic farmers. It proved to be a unique conference in many ways – not least because it was the first meeting that BGS had held specifically devoted to organic farming. Themes covered by the sessions: Profitable organic systems – current and future issues; practical forage and livestock production; cropping systems. This unique collection of information is available from the BGS Office priced £30 including P&P. The book includes the texts of the oral and the poster presentations.

Order / Contact
The book may be ordered form the BGS Office, Dept of Agriculture, PO Box 237, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR.

Recent Reports from European Organic Farming Research Projects

The publications listed below may be ordered or downloaded via the FiBL shop (shop.fibl.org) or directly from the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick, Tel. +41 62 8657 272, Fax +41 62 8657 273, E-mail , Internet

Development of a European Information System for Organic Markets - Improving the Scope and Quality of Statistical Data. Proceedings of the 1st EISfOM European Seminar held in Berlin, Germany, 26-27 April, 2004
Edited by Guido Recke, Helga Willer, Nicolas Lampkin and Alison Vaughan (Editors). FiBL, Frick, Switzerland, 2004, 254 Pages, order no. 1339, ISBN 3-906081-53-2. 30 CHF, 20 EUR

The proceedings of the first European Conference about data collection in organic farming include more than 50 papers, covering organic farming statistics (farm structures and production; farm incomes and prices; the supply chain and trade; retailers and consumers: supply balances and policy evaluation). The conference was organised by the project European Information System for Organic Markets (www.eisfom.org).

Current Evaluation Procedures for Plant Protection Products Used in Organic Agriculture. Proceedings of a workshop held September 25 - 26, 2003 in Frick, Switzerland
Edited by Speiser, Bernhard and Otto Schmid. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, Switzerland 2004, 101 Pages, order no. 1341, ISBN 3-906081-55-9. 22 CHF, 15 Euro.

The articles in this volume describe the evaluation procedures for plant protection products used in organic agriculture. They summarise the situation in various (mainly European) countries and the evaluation procedures and criteria for international institutions. This volume of proceedings was produced as part of the European Project Organic Inputs Evaluation. Project information is available at www.organicinputs.org.

Assessment of the Socio-Economic Impact of Late Blight and State of the Art of Management in European Organic Potato production Systems (to be published December 2004)
By Tamm, L.; Smit, A.B.; Hospers, M. and Jannsens, S.R.M..; Buurma, J.S..; Mølgaard, J.P.; Lærke, P.E.; Hansen, H.H.; Bødker, L.; Bertrand, C.; Lambion, J.; Finckh, M.R.; Schüler, C.; Lammerts van Bueren, E.; Ruissen, T.; Solberg, S.; Speiser, B.; Wolfe, M.; Phillips, S.; Wilcoxon S.J. & Leifert, C. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, Switzerland, 2004, order no. 1340, ISBN 3-906081-54-0

In Europe, late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans, is the most devastating disease affecting organic (and conventional) potato production. The extent of economic damage varies amongst European regions. Copper has been the single most important control agent in organic late blight control. Therefore, the reduction or an eventual phasing out of copper use will have varying impacts in different regions. This report presents the results of a detailed survey conducted in 7 European countries as part of the European funded project Blight-Mop.

Underlying Principles in Organic and “Low-Input Food” Processing – Literature Survey (To be published December 2004)
Edited by Otto Schmid, Alexander Beck and Ursula Kretzschmar. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, Switzerland, 2004, ISBN 3-906081-58-3

This literature review about processing of organic and low-input food describes the underlying principles, the regulatory framework, problem areas as well as consumer expectations and concepts of food processing companies. The study was conducted within the EU funded Integrated Project Quality Low Input Food (www.qlif.org)

A Guide to Successful Organic Marketing Initiatives
By Otto Schmid, Ulrich Hamm, Toralf Richter, Andrea Dahlke. FiBL, Frick, OMIaRD Publication, Volume 6, 2004, 210 Pages, Order no. 1338, ISBN 0-9543279-5-5. 30.00 CHF, 20.00 EUR

Organic Producer Initiatives and Rural Development - four European Case Studies
By Peter Midmore, Carolyn Foster, Markus Schermer, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, OMIaRD Publication, Volume 3, 2004. Order via FiBL or http://www.irs.aber.ac.uk/omiard/publications/

The European Market for Organic Food: Revised and Updated Analysis
By Ulrich Hamm, Friederike Groenefeld. University of Wales, Aberystwyth, OMIaRD Publication, Volume 5, 2004 Order via FiBL or http://www.irs.aber.ac.uk/omiard/publications/

International Archive Organic Eprints: Update

The Organic Eprints database is an international open access archive for papers related to research in organic agriculture. The archive contains full-text papers in electronic form together with bibliographic information. www.orgprints.org is increasingly used by the international organic research community as a communication tool, thus providing the basis for international research co-ordination efforts. Currently the web site www.orgprints.org has more than 1500 visits per day. All researchers are invited to use Organic Eprints as a tool for documenting their publications.

The database currently contains more than 2000 papers, and their number is increasing daily. Most of the entries come from Denmark, as the Danish Research Centre of Organic Farming (DARCOF) obliges all its researchers to submit their papers. All output of the research project of the German organic farming scheme (BÖL) as well as of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and of many European projects (Organic Revision, QLIF, Core Organic) are documented in the database. The archive will also document the papers presented at the next scientific conference on organic farming in the German language area, thus making accessible the current status of organic farming research in that region.

Figure: Entries in the database Organic Eprints by country (22.10.2004)

A look at the subjects covered by the database entries shows that soil and plants play a major role in organic farming research.

Figure: Entries in the database Organic Eprints the subject areas (22.10.2004)

Contact:
Hugo Fjelsted Alrøe DARCOF, orgprints@agrsci.dk and FiBL orgprints@fibl.org

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Newsletter Contact

Dr Helga Willer
Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL
Ackerstrasse
CH - 5070 Frick, Switzerland
Tel: +41 62 8657 272, Fax +41 62 8657 273, e-mail , Internet

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ISOFAR Secretariat

International Society of Organic Agriculture Research ISOFAR
c/o Institute of Organic Agriculture IOL
Prof. Dr Ulrich Köpke (President ISOFAR) and Anke Dunsche (Secretary ISOFAR)
Katzenburgweg 3
D-53115 Bonn
phone +49-228-735616
fax +49-228-735617
e-mail
Homepage

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