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The first volume deals mainly with various aspects of organic crop production, which traditionally represent the largest share of all papers submitted to conferences on organic agriculture. The second volume gives insights into the increasing research activities on animal husbandry, socio-economics, interdisciplinary research projects. Furthermore it contains the papers for the five workshops of the Integrated project Quality Low Input Food which was held as part of the ISOFAR conference.

ORGAPET is a collection of different information/data sources and evaluation tools, including participative techniques, quantitative assessments and methods to identify relevant indicators, which can be used selectively to meet the needs of a particular assessment of national or EU organic action plans.

The publication 'Organic Action Plans Development, implementation and evaluation' is a practical manual for initiating, implementing and evaluating Action Plans.

(June 26, 2008) From June 16 to 20, 2008, the 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress, including pre-conferences, took place in Modena, Italy. The Congress had more than 1'700 participants. Thematic conferences surrounding the congress dealt with subjects such as organic markets (mainstream certification, short supply chains and participatory guarantee systems) and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Other important issues tackled comprised the adaptation and mitigation of climate change in agriculture, and research on the effects of biodiversity loss.

Among many other subevents, the 2nd conference of the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research ISOFAR took place. 200 papers and 160 posters were presented at this conference. The proceedings were published by ISOFAR and FiBL will be made available in the FiBL-Shop (printed and PDF).

At the IFOAM General Assembly a new board was elected. The new IFOAM president is Catherine di Matteo, USA. Urs Niggli of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL (Switzerland) and Roberto Ugas of the University of La Molina (Peru) are vice-presidents.The general assembly voted for Korea as the venue for the next IFOAM Organic World Congress.

ICROFS replaces and expands the scope of DARCOF

(June 12, 2008) ICROFS, the International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems was established by the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries on June 1st 2008. It is a “centre without walls” where the research is performed in interdisciplinary collaboration between research groups in different institutions and universities.

The centre is an expansion of the former research centre DARCOF, which the Danish Government in 2008 decided to give an international mandate and an international board. The main purpose of ICROFS is to initiate, coordinate and monitor high quality research of international standard in organic food and farming systems. Further, the aim of ICROFS is to stimulate international and transnational research and secure impact of the research results through support and dissemination in order to achieve optimum benefit from the allocated resources.

DARCOF initiated and set up the Organic Eprints Archive which has become a very valuable source of information on organic farming. In the future, the archive will be maintained by ICROFS.

(June 10, 2008) Scientists from EU’s largest organic research project, QLIF, are ready to present their results on how to improve quality, ensure safety and reduce costs of food from organic and low-input food supply chains.

Organic farming systems hold the potential to produce food of high quality while at the same time considering food safety and environmental benefits.

At the 4th QLIF Congress in Modena, scientists from the EU project QLIF (QualityLowInputFood) will present and critically evaluate the new and currently available evidence for differences in food quality and safety between foods from organic, low-input and conventional production systems. As an example of new project results, it was recently shown that grazing cows on organic farms in the UK produce milk that contains significantly higher levels of beneficial fatty acids, antioxidants and vitamins than their conventional counterparts.

QLIF will contribute to the scientific part of the 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress with several interdisciplinary workshops. These will take place June 19 and 20, 2008. These workshops will aim to summarize and synthesize the results and data gained during the first four years of the QLIF project. In total, five workshops will be held on product quality, safety of foods, crop productivity, livestock productivity, resource efficiency.

Organic Farming in Belgium: Growth in 2007

(June 9, 2008) Organic farming in Belgium has continued to grow substantially in 2007. The organic area increased from almost 29'000 ha to more than 33'000 ha, constituting an increase of 15 %. The organic market grew by 10 % and was at 283 million Euros in 2007. More than half of the organic products are sold in supermarkets.

A totally revised country report about organic farming in Belgium, provided by Petra Tas of Bioforum Vlaanderen is now available at Organic Europe.

OrganicXseeds is now the official database in Bulgaria

(June 9, 2008) According to the EU Regulation on organic farming, European Union Member States must ensure that a database is established in which organic seed and seed potatoes can be registered.

Recently, the Bulgarian Government decided to adopt “organicXseeds”, set up by FiBL. OrganicXseeds is already recognized as the official database in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. This database, now complemented with a Cyrillic version, handles about 10,000 seed products and has more than 1,000 visitors a week.

First internet platform for Swiss organic farmers now online in German and French

(June 7, 2008) www.bioaktuell.ch, the recently launched platform with technical information for Swiss organic farmers is now also available in French.

Subject areas covered are: news, animal husbandry, crop production, market, training and advice, contacts.

Organic Action Plan for Ireland

(May 27, 2008) On April 30, 2008, an organic action plan was launched in Ireland. Speaking at the launch Minister Sargent said that he was committed to achieving the very necessary development of the organic sector in Ireland. The Minister said that, "the target of 5% of land area in organic production by 2012 set down in the Programme for Government is indeed a challenging target but one that I believe is achievable.The Action Plan is an important development in working towards achievement of the Government's target".

The Action Plan has four main objectives; increase production in line with market trends, increase the knowledge base, develop the organic market at home and abroad, and encourage the development of public procurement opportunities for organic products. There are over 60 actions identified in the Plan.

Currently around 1 percent of Ireland's agricultural land is organic (almost 40'000 hectares) , which is below the EU's average..

Graph: Development of organic farming in Ireland 1998-2006. Source: Teagasc, Eurostat. Graph: FiBL, Frick

(April 28, 2008) The organically managed area continues to grow in Austria but the current demand for organic products cannot be met. Therefore a new action plan for organic food and farming 2008-2010 was recently launched. Austria aims to remain the EU's number one country in terms of share of the organic area (16 % according to the ministry; 371'000 hectares).

Organic Farming and Climate Change - New ITC publication

(April 17, 2008) A recent publication of the International Trade Centre ITC concludes that organic agriculture has much to offer in both mitigation of climate change through its emphasis on closed nutrient cycles and is a particularly resilient and productive system for adaptation strategies. It also raises the issue of whether organic agriculture should be eligible for carbon credits under voluntary carbon offsetting markets and the Clean Development Mechanism.

The publication is available for free download at the ITC homepage, where further recent ITC publications are available like: 'Overview of World Production and Marketing of Organic Wild Collected Products' or 'The Economic Impact of a Ban on Airfreighted Organic Products to the UK'.

(April 17, 2008) April 10 - 12, 2008 the 'International conference on the organic sector development in Central/Eastern European and Central Asian countries' took place in in Kyiv, Ukraine.

More than 200 participants from 25 countries attended the first international organic conference. The event in the 3-million-inhabitant metropolis of Kiev is intended to encourage all the surrounding countries to become intensively involved with the issue of organic farming and marketing.

The aim of the conference with top speakers was to present status quo reports from the Ukraine and neighbouring countries, to profit from experiences in the EU and to establish a network of players. The conference proceedings are available at the conference website.

The World of Organic Agriculture - Now also available as hardback edition

(April 3, 2008) The global yearbook on organic farming 'The World of Organic Agriculture' is now also available as a hardback edition. It is published by Earthscan, a leading publisher in English on sustainable development and environmental technology for academic and professional, and also policy and general readers.

The 2008 edition of this annual publication documents recent developments in global organic agriculture. It includes contributions from representatives of the organic sector from throughout the world and provides comprehensive organic farming statistics that cover surface area under organic management, numbers of farms and specific information about commodities and land use in organic systems. The book also contains information on the global market of the burgeoning organic sector, the latest developments in organic certification, standards and regulations, and insights into current status and emerging trends for organic agriculture by continent.

For this edition, all statistical data and regional review chapters have been thoroughly updated. Completely new chapters on organic agriculture in the Pacific, on the International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture and on organic aquaculture have been added.

Registration for the IFOAM Organic World Congress now online

(April 3, 2008) Registration for the 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress (OWC) is now possible at the OWC hompepage. A detailed conference brochure is now also available.

(April 2, 2008) As part of the EU's promotion programme for organic food and farming, to start this summer, a competition will be launched to design a new organic logo. This competetion will be open to all EU citizens. This logo will replace the draft logo which has recently been circulated (see at the Organic Market Info Homepage).

To allow sufficient time for a suitable logo to be selected, the Commission will ask the Council to delay by one year (to 2010) the date on which the EU logo becomes compulsory.

September 2008: Conference "New Developments in Science and Research on Organic Agriculture" in Lednice, Czech Republic

(March 26, 2008) From September 3-5, 2008 the conference “New Developments in Science and Research on Organic Agriculture" will take place within the framework of the 8th European Summer Academy on Organic Farming in Lednice, Czech Republic.

Two parallel conferences will be held: a Scientific Conference and a Practical Conference. The call for papers has now been issued. >>More

(March 18, 2008) The new yearbook on organic farming in the Czech Republic has now been published by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic in cooperation with Bioinstitut. The yearbook is available in English and in Czech.

In 2007, organic farming in the Czech Republic showed considerable development. As of December 31, 2007, the share of organically farmed land was - with 312,890 hectares - approximately 7.35 % of the total agricultural land., most of the land being grassland. Comapred to the previous year, the arable land grew by nearly 6'000 hectares to a total of 29,505 hectares. The greatest increase occurred in vineyards which grew from 18.9 ha in 2006 to 245 ha. Compared to last year, the number of organic farmers increased by 355 farms to a total of 1,318 organic farms.

The considerable increase in interest in organic agriculture is mainly due to the the payments for organic farmers and organic food producers under the new Rural Development Program (EAFRD, 2007 - 2013).

Another important aspect is the increased demand for organic raw materials from producers of organic foodstuffs, caused by growing interest from abroad.

With regard to marketing and general promotion of organic food, various retail chains launched massive consumer campaigns promoting their own brands of organic food, and this played an essential role in 2007.

One of the sustainable production and consumption programs prepared in 2007 was the “Organic Farming and Organic Food Program,” which was approved by the Council of the Czech Government on May 10, 2007. This program defines numerous measures for supporting the development of organic farming and the consumption of organic food in the Czech Republic. The implementation of these measures has been estimated to require approximately CZK 10 million annually. The program will be launched in 2008.

IFOAM Organic World Congress: Overall programme and information on side events now available

(March 12, 2008) From June 16th to 24th, 2008, Modena will host the participants of the 16th Organic World Congress. The Congress, which takes place every three years, is the most important Organic Agriculture event in the world. The following information is now available:

(March 17, 2008) The homepage of Biobank offers a wide range of information in English about the current status of organic farming in Italy, based on the new Bio Bank Report on the organic scene in italy - now available in the yearbook about organic farming in Italy Tutto Bio 2008.

For the first time the report includes province-by-province data, with 5 top provinces and 10 leading provinces ranked according to categories of operators. >> Reports at the Biobank homepage

(March 12, 2008) A new European project, Organic.Edunet, which aims to raise awareness about Organic Agriculture and Agro-Ecology in schools and agricultural universities, was recently launched. The project is coordinated by the Greek Research & Technology Network (GRNET S.A.), involves 15 partners from 10 European countries, and is expected to facilitate the access, usage and exploitation of digital educational content for teaching topics related to Organic Agriculture and Agro-Ecology. >> Press release

(February 29, 2008) 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 and the Department of Agriculture and Food Sciences (D-AGRL) of the ETH and Foundation Ecology & Agriculture. Papers can be submitted until September 1, 2008.

The 9th Scientific Conference on Organic Farming 'Between tradition and globalisation' took place March 20-23, 2007 at the University of Hohenheim, Germany. In parallel with the 9th Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture the 3rd Congress of the European Project Quality Low Input Food' was convened.

Curently 30.4 million hectares are certified according to organic standards (data as at the end of 2006). Australia continues to account for the largest certified organic surface area, with 12.3 million hectares, followed by China (2.3 million hectares), Argentina (2.2 million hectares) and the USA (1.6 million hectares). The greatest share of global organic surface area is in Oceania/Australia (42%), followed by Europe (24%) and Latin America (16%). In terms of certified land under organic management as a proportion of national agricultural area, the Alpine countries, such as Austria (13%, 361,487 hectares) and Switzerland (12%, 125,596 hectares), top the statistics. Compared to the adjusted data of the previous survey, the global organic area grew by approximately 1.8 million hectares during 2006. Growth was strongest in Oceania/Australia (more than 600,000 hectares) and Europe (more than 500,000 hectares).

International Scientific Conference on Sustainable Farming Systems in Slovakia, November 2008

(February 20, 2008) The 5th International Scientific Conference on sustainable farming systems ECOMIT will be held November 5 to 7, 2008 in Pieštany, Slovakia. The aim of the conference is to present and promote research results and experiences in the field of sustainable agriculture with emphasis on soil and climate change. Papers can be submitted until June 30 >>.More

(February 8, 2008) In Albania, about 13'700 hectares, including wild collection areas, are managed organically and certified, there are about 90 farms certified organic, producing medicinal plants, olive oil, fruit and vegetables.

Organic products are labelled with the private 'bio' logo. A new country report from Anula Guda of the SASA Project informs about the current situation in Albania.
>> Country Report

(January 25, 2008) The country report on organic farming in the Slovak Republic has been totally upated by Zuzana Lehocká and Marta Klimeková of the The Slovak Association for Sustainable Agriculture SASA . By mid 2007 more than 120'000 hectares of agricultural land were under organic management, representing 5.81 percent of all farmland in the Slovak Republic. The Slovak Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming aims to address the following areas where support for organic farming is needed: advisory service, research, information, processing, promotion and education.

(November 29, 2007)The Organic Market News Service of the International Trade Centre is a bi-monthly market report for producers, exporters and importers, and trade support institutions in developing countries. It contains information on market trends, and in-depth features on selected organics products and geographical focus areas.

The reports provide detailed market intelligence and price information on selected products of particular relevance to developing countries. The MNS team of product specialists draws its information from a network of over 230 worldwide correspondents in 50 countries worldwide, collecting up-to-date data on wholesale prices paid for specific products, supply and demand trends, and economic, climatic and legislative information that can affect the market situation of particular products.

So far two issues have been published:

Spain: National Platform for the Promotion of Organic Farming MEDAE established

(November 19, 2007) In November 2007 the organic sector in Spain founded the National platform MEDAE to defend their interest for a sustanaible production system and to promote a common policy. Key organisations have signed a document with 10 points/reason to support organic food and farming in Spain.

With more than 900'000 hectares under organic management, Spain is number 2 in Europe (after Italy), compared to other European countries, however, the market is still small.

A completely updated report on organic farming in Spain by Victor Gonzalves is now available at this webpage.

>> Country Report Organic Farming in Spain 2007

(September 18, 2007) The latest statistics (December 31, 2006) on organic farming in Italy have now been released by the Italian information system on organic farming SINAB. According to these data, provided by the Ministry of Agriculture MIPAF there are currently 51 065 oeprators, of these are 45'115 producers, 4739 processors, and 194 importers.

Compared to the previous year this represents an increase of the operators of 2.4%. The highest numbers are in Sicily and Calabria. The organically managed area amounts to 1'148'162 hectares, an increase of 7.6%.

April 17-18, 2008: Conference 'Organic agriculture and climate change' in Clermont-Ferrand, France

(September 7, 2008) The International scientific conference 'Organic agriculture and climate change: The contribution that Organic agriculture and our dietary choices can make to the mitigation of global warming' will take place April 17-18, 2008 at ENITA in Clermont-Ferrand, Lempdes, France. This international conference will be the first scientific European meeting devoted to the impact of agricultural techniques and food habits on climate change. >> More

(August 17, 2007) EU and national level policies increasingly intervene in organic farming. In consequence, the organic sector is now confonteted with a well established policy area. The book 'Policy networks of organic farming in Europe' analyses the interaction between organisations of the organic farming sector and general agricultural institutions.

The book provides policy makers, the private sector, researchers and students in the field of general and organic agricultural policy with an up-to-date analysis of the political structure of organic farming in Europe. It includes the first comprehensive comparison of organic farming networks in Europe.

New Organic Regulation Published in the Official Journal

(July 23, 2007) The new regulation on organic farming was published in the Official Jounal of the European Union on July 20, 2007. Its full title is: Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91. It will come into force on January 1, 2009. >> The new regulation >> About the revision of the organic regulation 2092/91.

(July 20, 2007) In a recent press release the IFOAM EU Group comments the Health Check of the Common Agricultural Policy CAP. According to Agricultural Commissioner Mariann Fischer BOEL (See speech of June 29, 2007) this “CAP Health Check” will assess whether the reformed CAP is meeting its objectives in a European Union of 27 Member States and in the foreseeable international context.

Acording to the IFOAM EU Group this check must treat the cause of the agricultural problems."European agriculture is facing new challenges in a rapidly changing world,” said Francis Blake, president of the IFOAM EU Group. “Climate change is now recognised as the biggest threat facing mankind - agriculture is a key contributor but could provide some solutions. This CAP Health Check must be used to address these”. >> Full press release

(July 12, 2007) Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, has now published a detailed report on the current status of organic farming in the EU. >> Report

(June 7, 2007) According to the Irish advisory service Teagasc at the end of 2006 there were 1260 registered operators in Ireland of whom 1104 were farmers/growers They are farming 39 665 hectares which represents approximately 0.9% of utilizable agricultural area, and the average holding size is approximately 36 hectares.

This organic area is made up of 26 137 hectares which is fully organic and 13 810 hectares which is in conversion to organic.

The National Steering Group for the organic sector has set a target of 3% of UAA to be either fully organic or in conversion by 2010 - an ambitious target given the current position.

(June 1, 2007) The turnover of organic food in the Czech Republic grew by 250 million CZK and reached 760 million CZK (€ 27 million) in 2006, growing by impressive 49 %. The Czech organic food market was thus probably the fastest growing market in Europe last year. This is reported at the Fresh Plaza homepage; the figures come from the report “Czech Organic Food Market 2007”, which was published by Green Marketing in May 2007. Imported organic food had a share of 65 % of the growth and 56 % of the total turnover last year. Organic food thus made 0.35 % of the total food consumption. The average Czech purchased organic food worth € 2.65.
>> Report at the Fresh Plaza Homepage ; >> Country Report Czech Republic

(May 18, 2007) In a recent newsletter the IFOAM EU Group informs of the main results of the Organic Revision project. The group is participating as a full partner in the project activities.

Even though the EU has introduced harmonised regulation for organic agriculture more than 10 years ago, different requirements still exists at national and regional level, and in many cases the several certification bodies apply different policies for labelling of organic farming products. According to the IFOAM EU group, for farmers, consumers, traders and the organic farming industry the number of different standards, labels and certification bodies is confusing. >>More

(March 26, 20007). In a recent press release the IFOAM EU Group says that European experts call for the upcoming CAP health check to put sustainability properly at the centre of European agriculture. According to the IFOAM EU Group the meeting of European experts at the CAP Seminar "Organic Farming and Nature Protection to Allow Sustainable Growth" showed the importance of efficient and coherent (CAP) Rural Development programmes in the Member States to further develop organic farming and nature protection.

About thirty European experts of the organic and environmental sectors were invited to the seminar "Organic Farming and Nature Protection to Allow Sustainable Growth". Delegates discussed the mutual positive effects of organic farming and nature protection on a wide range of CAP and other policies.

European research shows higher nutritional value of organic food

(19.12.2006) Research results showcased in Brussels on December 12, 2006, showed research results, demonstrating that organically produced food has a higher nutritional value than conventional food.

Code of Conduct for Organic Food Processing published

(October 18, 2006) Both legal requirements and consumer expectations need to be met when producing organic processed food. The aim of the Code of Practice is to contribute to the further development of organic food processing in terms of increased safety, quality, transparency and success.The code provides a comprehensive introduction to the key requirements of the organic food sector as they apply to daily practice.

The code was developed within the Framewok of the European Research project Quality Low Input Food QLIF. and integrates the requirements of the European Regulation 2092/91, of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and the perceptions of consumers. The book can be downloaded from the FiBL Shop.

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
Contact: Helga Willer

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Proceedings of the second ISOFAR Conference