The contribution of research to the development of organic farming in Europe

Summary

On national as well as on EU level, research funds should be directed substantially towards organic farming in order to improve the economic and ecological performance of organic farming. The impact of research funds is very high in this field of food production, because, as yet, the potential of organic farming has been scarcely tapped by research. Integrating organic farming research into conventional research structures means disintegrating organic farming itself. Therefore, special attention should be given to how research activities are organised. National or regional centres of competence (hubs) are needed in order to provide and maintain an appropriate quality of research.
These hubs can be organised as real or virtual centres.
Evaluation procedures for most national and EU research funds do not consider adequately the unique approach and methodology of organic farming research.