Contribution to the definition of an overall research program for organic farming in Wallonia: identification of priorities for the 2015-2020 period

Summary

In order to identify research priorities in the organic farming sector, a three step approach was performed in 2014- 2015: (A) Ninety farmers were interviewed, in 2014, on an individual basis. Sixty of these farmers performed animal production (ruminant or mono-gastric); (B) Ten focus groups were organized with representatives of (1) advisory services, (2) administrations and farmer unions and (3) research institutions; (C) Priorities identified in (A) and (B) were compared to (1) the priorities identified, in 2015, by the “producer representatives”, in the organic sector and (2) the funded or pre-called thematic of regional and European research programs. This work underlines and confirms the necessity, for organic farmers, to develop more autonomous production systems, from a livestock feeding and soil fertility maintenance point of view. The comparison of these different sources of information highlights the link existing between the definition of previous regional research programs and expectations from the field. This questions the efficiency with which research innovations are spread among the sector as these problematics remain open. Farmers are asking for action and contextualized research. Such a research posture, highly promoted by H2020 programmation, would improve the diffusion of results.