Organic Farming in Switzerland 2008
Urs Niggli, FiBL, with updates by Helga Willer, FiBL
History and Development of Organic Farming
in Switzerland
Switzerland was undoubtedly the foremost pioneering country in organic
farming and has remained so until today in several areas.
Pioneering Work of the Swiss Organic Movement
Bio-dynamic farming
Bio-dynamic agriculture has a long history in Switzerland. The Section
for Agriculture at the Goetheanum (formerly a unit of the Section of
Natural Sciences) has a history going back to the 1930s. A detailed
description is available at its homepage.
Research work was done here by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and Lilli Kolisko
in the 1940s and 1950s, and until today research activities are taking
place. Annually the international agricultural conference is held at
the Goetheanum in Dornach.
Until today there is a very active bio-dynamic farmers’ and
consumers’ movement which started in the 1930s. The "Demeter"
label was registered in 1954
Organic farming
The farmers’ movement initiated by Hans Müller became the
nucleus of the organic farming movement in the 1940s. Together with
his wife Maria Müller and his friend Hans Peter Rusch, a microbiologist,
he became the founder of organic farming in the German-speaking countries.
In 1949, he used the term "organisch-biologischer Landbau"
("organic-biological farming") for the first time.
Although very impressed by what Sir Albert Howard wrote, Müller
never met Albert Howard nor Lady Eve Balfour. Until his death in 1988,
the Möschberg near Bern was the main training centre for organic
farmers from Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
Picture: The Moeschberg,
Canton Bern, Switzerland. Today the Moeschberg is a hotel,
offering facilities for seminars and courses (Photograph: Moeschberg)
 In
1946 Müller founded the AVG
Galmiz (today Bio Gemüse AV-AG),
the first co-operative to commercialise organic products. He set up
a delivery / mail-order service for organic vegetable and fruit boxes.
In 1972 Otto Buess, director of the state
agricultural school at Sissach, converted the school’s training
farm into an organic holding.
Further milestones of organic farming in Switzerland
- In 1977 FiBL organised the 1st International Scientific Conference
"Towards Sustainable Agriculture" of the International Federation
of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). In 2000 FiBL organised the
13th IFOAM International Scientific Conference "The World Grows
Organic"
- FiBL hosted the General Secretariat of the International Federation
of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM),
from 1977 to 1980.
- In 1980 Swiss organic farmers’ associations founded the umbrella
organisation "Vereinigung Schweizer Biologischer Landbau-Organisationen"
(VSBLO), now Bio Suisse and
national private standards were established. Farms and products were
labelled with the common "Bio Suisse Bud" seal. Hartmut
Vogtmann and Otto Schmid, who were involved in that work in Switzerland,
later influenced the standard setting process within IFOAM.
- In 2000 FiBL organized the 13th IFOAM conference. It took place
in Basel and had around 1500 participants.
Growth and Distribution of Organic Farms in
Switzerland
Until 1990, the rate of conversions to organic farming had remained
very steady for forty years, with annual growth rates of less than ten
percent. During the boom years between 1990 and now, the number of organic
farms increased from 800 to over 6000. According to Bio Suissse currently
more than 120'000 hectares are managed organically, constituting 11.4
percent of the agricultural area (2008) (For latest data see info
at the Bio Suisse homepage).
 A
brief note on Swiss organic farming statistics: In Switzerland
there are two major collection systems for organic production data in
place. There are the data of Bio Suisse, which do, however, not cover
all organic farms but only those that are a member of Bio Suisse. The
Federal Agency for Statistics BFS provides very detailed organic farming
statistics, but it only includes farms which are eligible for direct
payments. Not all organic farms receive such payments.
Therefore, since 2006 the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture
FiBL collects the data from the certifiers and makes them available.
According to these data at least 100 farms are not covered by the BfS
statistics.
A detailed report on 'Data
collection and processing systems for organic markets' , including
a description of the Swiss situation, was produced within the framework
of the EISfOM
project (European Information System for Organic Market Data).
Several factors have driven this growth:
- the consumers’ concern about healthy food;
- the agri–environmental policy of the state government, which
supports organic farms with annual subsidies;
- the appearance the availability of organic foods in the two dominant
supermarket chains, Coop and Migros;
- The the work of the organic actors like Bio Suisse, who unites
the organic sector and of FiBL, who provides research and practical
advice for farmers.
Most farms in Switzerland work organic-biologically. Although very
well known to the public, bio-dynamic farms compose only a small niche
within the organic sector - . The number of bio-dynamic farms has changed
little during the fast expa n sion of organic farming.
Regional Distribution of organic farms
The distribution of organic farms in Switzerland is very uneven. In
mountain regions the shares of organic land are very high; in the canton
of Graubünden for instance mor e than 51 % of the agricultural
land is organic (2005).
The fact that a lot of the organic land is located in the Alpine regions
is also reflected in the land use in Swiss organic farming, which has
a higher percentage of gras s land than Swiss farming in general.
 Figure: Land
use in Swiss organic farming in 2007
Source: Data of the certifiers, compiled by FiBL. Temporary
grassland is included in the arable area. Graph: FiBL
In the western part of Switzerland, where stockless arable farms and
horticultural crops dominate, the share of organically farmed land is
low.
Figure: Share
of organic farms of all farms by cantons 2005
Source: Federal Agency of Statistics BFS, Graph: FiBL
Information about the
Swiss cantons is available at Wikipedia.
Organic Farming Organisations & Labels
 90
to 95 % of the Swiss organic farmers belong to the umbrella organisation
Bio Suisse (association of Swiss
organic farming movements). Bio Suisse consists of more than 30 member
organisations. A bud farm is thoroughly organically operated.
Some hundred licencees process organic raw materials according to
the standards of Bio Suisse. Each bud product is labelled with the name
of the licensee and the certification body. This guarantees that all
bud products are controlled and the rigorous quality requirements are
met.
Independent inspection services as e.g. the bio.inspecta
in Frick, regularly inspect the farms and the trade and processing companies.
 Another
producer organisation with about 200 members is the association for
bio-dynamic agriculture (Demeter
Schweiz / Demeter
Suisse), a branch of Bio Suisse.
Important distribution channels for Demeter Suisse products are: direct
marketing at local markets and on the farms, natural food shops and
small retailers. Producers belonging to the bio-dynamic association
use the bud seal as well, because certification for the Demeter label
includes the Bio Suisse standards.
 The
Migros supermarket chain has introduced its own Migros
Bio label: Migros is not a producer organisation, but a retailer.
Products marketed with the Migros "Bio" label are distributed
mainly through Migros stores.
For other and more specific labels, please check the internet
site of WWF.
Standards and State Regulations
The Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance as put
into force in 1998 following the legislation
in the European Union. Both Switzerland and the EU mutually recognise
each other’s certification schemes. Imports from EU countries or countries
on the third country list of the Swiss regulation must be accompanied
by a certificate from an inspection body from the respective country.
An individual import licence is required for imports from other countries.
At the internet site of the Federal Office of Agriculture BLW
all documents related to the Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance are
available.
When the Swiss Ordinance on
organic farming came into force in 1998, organic farming had already
developed considerably on the basis of purely private certification.
As early as 1980, all Swiss organic farming organisations had agreed
on common standards
for organic farming, on the use of the common "Bio
Suisse Bud" seal and on a common certification scheme.
The bud seal
may be used by certified producers for domestic and imported products
which meet the Bio Suisse requirements Domestic products carry the name
"Bio Suisse", imported products are labelled as "Bio"
.
Certification Scheme
The Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance delegates
the inspection of organic farms and processors to private organisations,
but requires a certification and inspection scheme in compliance with
EN 45011. The Swiss
Federal Office of Metrology and Accreditation (METAS) is responsible
for the accreditation of inspection and certification bodies.
In Switzerland the main certifiers for farms are bio.inspecta
and BioTest Agro. For processors,
the main certifiers are: bio.inspecta, IMO (Institut für Marktökologie
and SQS (Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems). A regularly
updated list of the Swiss
certification bodies is available from the FiBL homepage.
 Bio.inspecta
was established in 1998 in order to set up a neutral, independent and
credible auditing and certification procedure for organic products.
Today, bio.inspecta inspects and certifies more than 80% of all organic
farms across Switzerland and as well as retailers/traders and processors
of organic products.
Bio Test Agro was founded in 1998. It has its seat in the canton of
Berne .
 IMO
(Institut für Marktökologie
/ Institute for Marketecology) inspects and certifies farms and
processors in Switzerland and worldwide. For more than 20 years, IMO
has been active in the field of organic certification but it is also
an expert in the sectors of natural textiles, sustainable forestry,
and social accountability monitoring.
State Support
Swiss law requires all agricultural subsidies to be contingent on
minimum ecological standards. This agro-environmental policy is based
on a referendum from 1996.
The minimum ecological standards (Ökologischer
Leistungsnachweis ÖLN / prestations
écologiques requises (PER) require:
- Crop rotations with at least four crops;
- Measures against soil erosion;
- Equilibrium in the nutritional balance; and
- High biodiversity on seven per cent of the agricultural area.
In addition, Swiss farmers can choose from different special programmes,
e.g. for the maintenance of extensive areas such as hedges and fallow
land, and programmes for animal welfare.
For the organic farming payments both the requirements of the ÖLN
/ PER and those of the Swiss organic law must be met.
The Market
The Swiss organic market is over one billion Swiss Francs. On average
the Swiss consumers spend 104 EUR on organic products annually. The
sales of organic products have been continually growing in the past
years, and the market share of organic products is now 4.6 percent.There
has been speculation about possible market saturation in Switzerland,
but in 2007 there has been major growth (see graph below).
Figure: Growth
of the Organic Market in Switzerland 1997 to 2007 in million Swiss francs
.
Source: COOP Switzerland at the COOP
homepage
Demand is highest for organic fresh products (meat, milk product,
eggs, vegetables, fruit). For fresh products the market share is 7 %.Highest
growth rates are achieved for cheese, cream, eggs and vegetables.
About 75 percent of sales pass through two major retailers and 15 percent
through specialist organic shops, with the remainder retailing either
direct from the producers or through family butchers and bakery shops.
The two leading retail chains COOP and MIGROS follow different strategies
in their organic assortments. While COOP continuously broadens the number
of organic lines, MIGROS has slightly reduced its organic commitment.
With the market entrance of the German discounter ALDI, COOP and Migros
increased their communication efforts for their discount segments.
 Coop
Naturaplan sells a very wide
range of organic products in all its supermarkets. Its label Naturaplan
is not exclusively used for organic products; animal products coming
from animal friendly husbandry systems may also carry this label. Organic
products are additionally labelled with the Bio Suisse bud. Recently
COOP launched a new design for the organic products. Information is
available at the COOP
homepage.
Migros
is selling its organic products under the Migros
Bio Engagement label.
Training
All cantons offer an introductory course for farmers co n verting to
organic agriculture . These courses in compliance with the private
Bio Suisse standards, which require a minimum of two days of training
for the initial certification. In addition to the courses o f fered
by the official advisory services, the private Research Institute of
Organic Agriculture FiBL and the different regional organic farmers’
associations offer many courses and hold meetings.
Modules on organic farming for apprentices are offered by many agricultural
schools to meet the rising demand for apprenticeships in organic farming,
FiBL and a group of teachers and trainers have developed a curriculum
for the profession("organic farmer") a nd in 2004 an organic
school was set up (with funding from the Supermarket chain Coop). FiBL
provides a list of farms that
offer apprenticeships .
A very innovative four-year apprenticeship programme for bio-dynamic
farmers has been in existence for many years. The courses and practical
training take place on bio-dynamic farms.
At the Technical University of Zurich (ETH), the Department of Agricultural
Science offers a specialised agro-ecology programme for agronomists
which comprises organic farming methods. A similar programme is offered
by the Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL) at Zollikofen.
Advisory Services
The state advisory services of each canton offer technical advice for
farmers. A list
of all organic advisors is available at the FiBL website. The state
advisory services focus on technical support during the conversion period
as well as on micro-economics (subsidies etc.).
Complementing the state services, FiBL
offers a wide range of specialised technical support in areas such
as: animal health, horticultural crops, viticulture and wine making,
poultry production and free-range cattle fattening.
The monthly journal bio aktuell
(in German) or "bio actualités" (in French) is
published by FiBL and Bio Suisse.
 In
2008, the first internet platform with technical information for for
Swiss organic farmers - www.bioaktuell.ch went online. It is available
in German and French. The platform is maintained by the Research
Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and Bio Suisse, the Swiss organic producers' organisation,
in cooperation with the Swiss cantons. Subject areas covered are: news,
animal husbandry, crop production, market, training and advice, contacts.
Many technical leaflets (both black and white and in colour) covering
all aspects of organic production are issued regularly by FiBL in German
and French. All material is available at the FiBL
shop.
An advisory service for organic gardeners is available from the bioterra
association. They also offer many courses in gardening and horticulture.
Research
The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL
Since 1973, the Research
Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) at Frick has been the centre
of competence in organic farming in Switzerland. FiBL employs a staff
of 120 scientists and technicians in the areas of research and advice.
 FiBL is
a leading information and documentation centre for organic agriculture.
The close links between different fields of research and the rapid transfer
of knowledge from research to advisory work and agricultural practice
are FiBL’s strengths. FIBL is also active in the field of international
cooperation. It supports, for instance, the setting up of organic certification
bodies (e.g. Indocert in India).
The German sister-institute FiBL Germany was founded in 2001, FiBL
Austria in 2004. For more information on FiBL's activities and research
programmes see the FiBL
homepage.
 FiBL
is actively supporting the development of international organic farming.
It organised the 13 th IFOAM International Scientific Conference, which
took place in Basel in August 2000. FiBL had also organised the first
IFOAM scientific conference in 1977 in Sissach.
Together with the International Society
of Organic Farming Research ISOFAR it organised the scientific
part) of the 15th IFOAM organic world congress in Adelaide , Australia
in 2005 .
Organic farming research activities at other institutions
Applied agricultural research is also carried out by six federal research
stations (Agroscope). Some of their research activities involve organic
farming, especially the research programme of the, Swiss Federal Research
Station for Agroecology and Agriculture Agroscope (FAL) in Zurich-Reckenholz.
Applied agricultural research is also carried out by six the federal
research stations ( Agroscope ) . Some of their research activities
involve organic farming, especially the research programme of t he ,
Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture Agroscope
(FAL) in Zurich-Reckenholz.
The foremost bio-dynamic research and training institution is the
Agricultural Scientific Section
of at the Goetheanum at in Dornach . The Arbeitsgruppe Forschung
(AGF) co-ordinates all the individual bio-dynamic researchers in
Switzerland . The cereal breeder
Peter Kunz belongs to both AGF and Sativa.
 A
detailed report
about the current situation of Swiss organic farming research is
available at the Core Organic webportal.
Scientific Conference 2009
The 10th Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture ‘Wissenschaftstagung’
will take place February 11-13, 2009, at the Swiss Federal Institute
of Technology ETH, Zürich. It will be organised by the Research
Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, the Federal Research station
Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon ART, the ETH and Foundation Ecology
& Agriculture (Germany).
It is substantially funded by the Swiss Agencies for Agriculture and
the Environment and the COOP sustainability fund as well as numerous
other spnosors.
Challenges and Outlook
The development of organic farming has been fast but very sustainable
in Switzerland. Three factors support this optimism:
The current agri-environmental policy with its ecological payments
has encouraged farmers to convert. The state support has led to minor
premiums for organic food, which is a very consumer-friendly situation.
The wide-spread use of the organic "Bio Suisse Bud" seal
in supermarkets, specialised food shops and at local and farmers’
markets has strengthened the confidence of consumers in the quality
and reliability of organic food.
Authors
Dr. Urs Niggli, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Ackerstrasse,
CH- 5070 Frick, phone +41-865-7272, fax +41 865 7273, website http://www.fibl.org
With updates from Dr. Helga Willer, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture
(FiBL), Ackerstrasse, CH- 5070 Frick, phone +41-865-7272, fax +41 865
7273, website http://www.fibl.org
Links
For links to the institutions named in the text please check the Organic
Europe address database.
1) General Information about Switzerland, Swiss agriculture and organic
farming in Switzerland
2) Certification and Labelling, Standards, Laws
Bio Suisse
Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture BLW
Confederatio Helvetica
(c) By Forschungsinstitut
für biologischen Landbau (FiBL) 2007. All rights reserved
URL http://www.organic-europe.net
29.06.2009
Comments
 Research
Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL
Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick
Tel: +41-62-865 72 72 Fax:+41-62-865 72 73
Internet http://www.fibl.org
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