ARGOS is a joint collaboration between the Agribusiness Group, Lincoln University, and the University of Otago.  The Group’s mandate is to examine the environmental, social and economic sustainability of New Zealand farming systems.  Specifically ARGOS is comparing the effects of livestock grown under conventional, integrated and organic management; conventional orchards versus organic orchards; and dairies converting to organic versus conventional dairies.

ART is a federal research centre of the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture focusing on plant production and animal husbandry systems.  Research at the Station combines ecology, economics and agricultural engineering to support an agricultural system that is non-industrial in nature.  Studies on organic agriculture are focused on looking for solutions to technical problems in organic production in arable crops, in grassland systems and in management of organic manure, farm and ground fertilizers in order to maintain soil fertility and produce high yields.  In partnership with FiBL, ART maintains a long-term trial on organic and biodynamic versus conventional farming known as the DOK project.

CIRAA is an agricultural experimental center run by the Università di Pisa.  The Centre conducts mainly on-farm research at the field scale.  The Mediterranean Arable Systems Comparison Trial (MASCOT) experiment began at the Centre in 2001 with an aim of long-term comparison of organic and conventional cropping systems.  It evaluates the long-term dynamics of soil characteristics, macronutrients, weed and pest populations, system biodiversity, and economic and energetic management.

Located within the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources, the Maryland Agriculture Experiment Station, conducts a variety of agricultural research.  The Station’s Center for Agricultural and Natural Resource Policy has a specific focus on studying economic issues in agriculture.  There, scientists have conducted research comparing conventional and organic systems and analyzing the economic, environmental, and energetic differences.

SLU has a mission to take responsibility for the development of biological resources and production in fields such as agriculture, forestry, and food.  The focus of the Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden Station is increasing the knowledge of different crops and harvesting techniques, and maximizing the utilization of animal feeds.  NJV also maintains a farm in Öjebyn that compares conventional versus organic dairy systems.

The Agronomy and Crop Science section within the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has been researching crop productivity and soil fertility in different cropping systems including organic, low-input, and conventional.  These studies emphasize the use of long-term experiments to optimize the systems.

Established in 2001, the ESRI aims to carry out research on the various aspects of the environment. Many qualified professors in Biology, Chemistry, Law, etc. at Shahid Beheshti University collaborate with the work of the Institute. ESRI offers Master and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Sciences. One of the research objectives of the Institute is studying economic factors related to bio-environmental research.

The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences has seven academic departments, covering a breadth of agricultural issues.  The University is a collaborating centre with ICROFS and researchers in the Faculty have partnered with ICROFS to study various organic issues.  Recent organic research undertaken by the Faculty has included comparison studies of dairy products produced under organic and non-organic systems, selective livestock breeding, methods of plant pest protection and levels of greenhouse gas emissions from organic soils under different agricultural management schemes. 

The Division of Organic Foodstuffs is a teaching and research division interested in the quality of organically produced foods and their impact on health.  Researchers in this division are interested in the quality of organically produced foods and their impact on health.  Recent research includes comparative studies on the nutritional quality of organic versus conventional plant products.

IBDF was founded to research solutions for biodynamic farmers and consultants. Currently, it focuses on conducting research in organic agriculture. The Institute’s main research groups focus on long-term trials and fertilization; organic plant breeding, crop diversity, seed health and organic plant protection; and the optimization of biodynamic preparations. The long-term trials group is focused on soil organic matter and crop yields and yield components with and without biodynamic preparations.