Research on Organic Food Production: Status, Requirements and Perspectives

Summary

Organic farming has rapidly developed in the EU in the 1990s. Although funding for organic research seems to increase with growing public awareness and political pressure, the current funding volume lags behind. The following aspects are discussed to effectively expand research in organic farming in the future: Why research and innovation specific to organic farming is needed. What are the appropriate research priorities? Is there need for specific “organic” research methodologies? How is research in organic farming best organised? Based on a literature review on the topic, a summarising evaluation of the status-quo of research on organic food production is given. The need for specific organic farming research is justified primarily because problems are different due to the organic farming definition, and because synergy effects may result for conventional farming, as well. Research priorities differ widely between stakeholders and regions and should, therefore, be defined jointly. A need for organic research methodologies has been identified. Core centres of competence assisted by advisory boards consisting of representatives of all stakeholder groups are proposed as an ideal research infrastructure for organic farming.