Sustainable, ecological approaches to European farming, the heart of the European Green Deal, are needed to safeguard food supplies for EU citizens and protect the long-term livelihoods of rural communities. The emergence of more support for organic systems as a form of agro-ecological production can help address these policy challenges...

• Replacement of Contentious Inputs in Organic Farming Systems • Evaluates solutions to further reduce the use of external inputs and develop cost-efficient and environmentally safe tools and technologies to: • Reduce the use of copper and mineral oil in plant protection • Identify sustainable sources for plant nutrition •...

We’re back with Shane Casey in The Burren, where it’s been a good Spring. Family and farm are thriving. For Shane, nature conservation and productivity go hand in hand. As the debate rages around the EU Nature Restoration Law, he is sympathetic to the farmers who are being asked to...

The Organic Research Centre is a leading, independent, research charity working for better farming, food and health, promoting environmental sustainability, quality food and health and wellbeing for all. We work in the UK and internationally to: research and develop practical, sustainable land management and food production systems based on organic...

There is broad consensus on the key role of organic production and consumption in the transition to a sustainable food system, with the Farm to Fork Strategy including the objective of ‘at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming by 2030 and a significant increase in organic aquaculture'. To achieve this target and to help...

With the new programming cycle for 2021-2027 now under implementation, the seventh progress report provides an opportunity for closure with respect to the EU’s ambitious 2013 pledge to allocate EUR 3.5 billion to nutrition between 2014 and 2020. The annual resource tracking exercise presented here confirms that by 2020 the...

La agricultura siempre ha mirado más a las plantas que a sus raíces, más al verde que a los suelos. Pero la agricultura regenerativa se ha fijado precisamente en las tierras donde cultivamos, con el objetivo de mejorar la salud del suelo, aumentar la biodiversidad y mejorar la disponibilidad y...

ALL-Ready and AE4EU jointly host their final project conference at the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels on 27 September 2023. REGISTER HERE The one-day conference will shed light on how the two projects paved the way for a European Network of Living Labs and Research Infrastructures. Both projects will feature...

On Wednesday, 20 September 2023, the Committee on Fisheries held a public hearing entitled "The importance of fisheries and aquaculture for rural areas". The objective of this hearing is to listen to various stakeholders on what is important to them when it comes to fisheries and aquaculture in rural areas. Fisheries...

Germany’s agriculture ministry is pushing for more organic food in canteens and restaurants in a first step towards achieving the coalition’s 2030 goal of ensuring 30% of arable land is dedicated to organic farming. At the end of 2021, Germany’s government coalition agreed that organic farming should account for 30% of arable land...

Legume-supported cropping systems affect environmental, production, and economic impacts. In Europe, legume production is still marginal with grain legumes covering less than 3% of arable land. A transition towards legume-supported systems could contribute to a higher level of protein self-sufficiency and lower environmental impacts of agriculture. Suitable approaches for designing...

In order to bridge the knowledge-gap between sustainability awareness and the old world winegrowing culture, this research explores and analyses perceptions of key individuals in Portuguese wine industry regarding sustainability issues, uncovering intercultural trends, expectations and tensions. A grounded theory approach was used on collected nationwide data from semi-structured interviews...

Grafting of tomatoes has the potential to increase tomato seed production under organic conditions. Grafting means to combine the positive characteristics of a rootstock (e.g., increased vigour, resistances to soil-borne diseases) with the positive characteristics (e.g., fruit quality, taste) of the upper part of the plant (scion). We compared the...

In this video, Gilles Libourel from GRAB describes the challenges with rootstocks. Julia Frézel explains the criteria for choosing fruit varieties at Ferme de la Durette.

A vibrant tapestry of life and landscapes, Europe’s rural areas provide us with our food, homes, jobs, and essential ecosystems services. To ensure that rural areas can continue to play these essential roles, a European Commission communication sets out a long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas up to 2040. It identifies...

As part of the RISE ATTER project, consortium partners co-designed and delivered a 7-day event at Monkton Wyld Court in Dorset, UK. This is the first of three summer/autumn schools planned to take place over the course of the ATTER project. The main objective of this week-long collective space was...

Both climate change and biodiversity loss have distorting social and economic impacts on development and cause severe risks for food security, nutrition and livelihoods among rural populations in Europe and Central Asia, most of whom depend directly or indirectly on the agricultural sector. The mutually reinforcing and complex nature of...

The IFOAM Organics Europe team is closely monitoring the many legislative initiatives being launched as part of the Farm to Fork strategy. We are committed to providing political and technical input on behalf of the organic sector and movement. The feedback, the experience and knowledge of our members are key...

Several pathogens are associated with sooty mold, which varies from season to season. Dark spots appear on the surface as a result of the damage. During storage the spots can increase in size. In this video, we show you the control strategies that are used in organic apple cultivation against...

Crop diversification (CD) encompasses practices such as extending crop rotation, cover cropping and intercropping practices, and growing minor crops. It has attracted increasing interest because it can produce both private benefits for farmers, including improved crop and soil health, and reduced inputs, and public goods for society, including greater biodiversity,...