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NewsBioFach Congress 2009: Programme now online
The BioFach, the World Organic Trade Fair, takes place from February 19 to 22 and celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The first BioFach took place in 1989 in Ludwigshafen, in the South of Germany. Highlights of BioFach 2009 include the world’s biggest organic wine exhibition and the BioFach Olive Oil Award. Denmark is Country of the Year.
Second Round Table of the Eastern European countries ‘Organic Agriculture and Legal Framework’(December 08, 2008) The Second Round Table of the Eastern European countries ‘Organic Agriculture and Legal Framework’ was conducted in Kyiv, Ukraine on November 5 and 6, 2008. Participants of the public and private sector from eleven countries discussed the opportunities of organic agriculture. Furthermore Ukraine participants discussed the current draft of the organic agriculture law which is expected to be passed by the Parliament in 2009. In a closed workshop representatives of the Ministries exchanged their experience in the implementation of legal frameworks and explored the potential for further cooperation. It was agreed that further exchange between authorities and certification bodies on the regional level should be supported. The participants and speakers represented the public and private sector from Ukraine, Albania, Czech Republic, Macedonia FYROM, Moldavia, Montenegro, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland and the European Union. The Round Table was organized by FiBL and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine and supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the National Association of Agricultural Advisory Services of Ukraine. Italian Network for Research in Organic Farming RIRAB established(December 4, 2008) Recenty the Italian Network for Research in Organic Farming as a platform for researchers and stakeholders was founded. Several thematic working groups cover topics like biodiversity, energy, plant protection, quality, agricultural techniques and organic animal production. The Groups are co-ordinated by experts coming from the National Research Council (CNR), the Council for Research and experimentation in Agriculture (CRA), the Italian Association for Organic Agriculture (AIAB), the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment (ENEA), the National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition (INRAN), the Regional Agency for Development and Innovation in Agriculture of Tuscany (ARSIA); the Research Centre for Crop Production of Emilia Romagna Region (CRPV). RIRAB supports the newly formed European Technology Platform “Organics”.
Technology Research Platform ‘Organics’ launched
The research Technology Platform ‘Organics’, which was launched on December 2, 2008 with a public presentation in Brussels, outlines in its first major publication - the Organic Research Vision 2025 - the numerous ways in which organic food production can significantly contribute to solving these problems. The Vice Minister of the Czech Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Jiri Urban, expressed in an opening greeting the support of his ministry for the Platform. TP ‘Organics’ is also being supported by a growing number of organisations representing the industry, the research community and the civil society.
Scientific Conference on Organic Farming in Zürich: Programme Outline now Available
As a novelty sessions where scientists meet and discuss with practioners will take place. Keynote speakers include the representatives of the major funders like the Swiss minister of agriculture Doris Leuthard and Sibyl Anwander of the retailer COOP. The event is furthermore sponsored by numerous institutions and companies of the Swiss organic sector. Switzerland continues to be one of the leading countries in organic farming world-wide. It holds place 1 as regards per capita consumption of organic food (104 Euros per person) and is number 3 regarding the share of organic land: 12 % of Switzerland's agricultural area are managed organically.
QLIF Newsletter: Conference in Antalya, Turkey, new research findings
Also, the newsletter announces major QLIF events, such as the Training and Exchange workshop in January 2009 and the 5th Annual QLIF Congress in April 2009. European Action Plans on Organic Food and Farming
Documents
Contact IFOAM Annual Report 2007 published
The report as well as the previous annual reports can be downloaded from the IFOAM website. Fostering healthy food systems through organic agriculture – focus on the Nordic-Baltic region: Conference in August 2009 in Estonia The aim is to provide opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and further scientific co-operation in Nordic-Baltic region. The conference is open to all fields of research involved in organic agriculture. The Conference is organised by the Nordic Association of Agricultural Scientists NJF in collaboration with Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonian Organic Farming Foundation. International task force launches two tools to facilitate trade in organic products
The tools were launched by Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD (picture), Alexander Müller, Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Urs Niggli (picture), Vice President of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). All urged that these measures and other task force recommendations be employed worldwide. The launching was followed by a reception featuring organic food -the first held at Geneva´s Palais de Nations. The ITF has worked since 2003 to remove technical barriers to trade in organic agricultural products that result from the lack of harmonization and interoperability of organic regulations, private standards, and certification requirements. The International Task Force on Harmonisation and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture ITF is a joint initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO of the United Nations, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture MovementsIFOAM and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD.
European research project CERTCOST started
Italy: Latest figures(September 26, 2008). Recently, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture released the latest organic farming statistics. In 2007 there was a slight increase of the organic agricultural land (1'150'253 hectares hectares, +0.2%) whereas the number of operators decreased (-1.5%).
Graph: Development of the number of organic operators and organic area. Source: SINAB (for Power Point Version click on graph) Most of the land s fully converted (more than 900'000 hectares). Italy continues to be the country with the largest organic area in Europe. The organic share of the agricultural land is 9%. New implementing rules on organic production published(September 18, 2008) The EU implementing rules on organic production have been published in the Official Journal L 250 of September 18, 2008. The full title is Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 to which it refers was published on June 28 in 2007. >> More about the EU regulation on organic farming Organic agriculture in Romania
According to this report the value of organic agricultural production in Romania expanded by over 40% in 2007, reaching 75 million Euros; exports continue to account for 90 percent of the value of Romania’s organic production.. Retail products are becoming more widely available, and local consumption has increased. In 2007, almost 200'000 hectares were organic (including wild collection). The first organic specialty shop opened in Romania in 2007, and is being expanded in 2008. During the period 2007-2013, Romanian farmers will have access to 285 million Euros in EU funds. There is a national organic label approved by the Ministry of Agriculture for certified organic products (see picture above).
Germany: Growth of organic land and of the market continued in 2007 (August 22, 2008; information provided through the BioFach Newsletter) Organic food sales in Germany grew again at a two-digit rate in 2007 and increased by 700 million to reach 5.3 billion EUR. Almost 79 % of sales growth was accounted for by the conventional retail food trade.
Figure: Development of the organic land area in Germany 1994-2007. Source: SöL, AGöL; BLE, ZMP According to information from ZMP, 18,703 organic farms managed 865'000 ha in Germany at the end of 2007. Compared with the previous year, the number of organic farms increased by 6.5 % or 1,146 ha and the organic area grew by 4.8 % or 39,800 ha. Overall at the end of last year, 5 % of the farmers farmed 5.1 % of the total agricultural land in Germany to organic standards. The total number of companies working in the organic sector – including producers as well as processors, importers and traders – grew by 11.9 % to 26,820 companies in 2007.
European Commission launches new promotional campaign for organic food and farming (July 26, 2008) The European Commission launched the European Union's new Organic Farming Campaign on July 26, 2008 at the Foire de Libramont agricultural fair in Belgium. Under the campaign slogan: “Organic farming. Good for nature, good for you”, the promotional campaign aims to inform consumers about the meaning and benefits of organic farming and food production. The campaign will focus on increasing consumer awareness and recognition of organic products, and especially on young people and children to carry the organic idea into the future. High interest in organic farming among European pupils and students
Guidelines for successful organic action plan development and evaluation welcomed in Brussels
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. According to a FiBL press release, the manual and evaluation toolbox designed to support the European and national action plans for organic food and farming were presented to the meeting of the Standing Committee on Organic Farming in Brussels on 2nd July (see minutes) and discussed with the EU member state delegates and the European Commission’s Organic Farming Unit.
Endorsement of the implementing rules of the new organic regulation: Comment of the IFOAM EU Group
New implementation rules for the certificate of inspection for import published (July 8, 2008) The new implementation rules for the certificate of inspection for import have now been published at the EURLex Website as COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 605/2008 of 20 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing the provisions concerning the certificate of inspection for imports from third countries under Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs. Proceedings of the second ISOFAR Conference
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. Contact: Daniel Neuhoff, ISOFAR 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress sucessfully concluded
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. Selected Links
ICROFS replaces and expands the scope of DARCOF 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. New research documents high quality and safety of organic food
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. The event will be opend by Dr. Timothy Hall, European Commission, DG Research. Further info
Organic Farming in Belgium: Growth in 2007
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 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. >> FiBL press release First internet platform for Swiss organic farmers now online 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. >> www.bioaktuell.ch>> www.bioactualites.ch 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 >>Info at the homepage of the Irish Green Party New Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming in Austria (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). The objectives of the action plan are:
>> Detailed information at the homepage of the agricultural ministry (in German)
Successful international conference on organic sector development in Kyiv
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. >> Conference Homepage The World of Organic Agriculture - Now also available as hardback edition
The paperback edition can be obtained from FiBL and IFOAM.
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.
Yearbook 2007 on organic farming in the Czech Republic: Growth continues
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.
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
Organic Farming in Albania
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.
European research shows higher nutritional value of organic food
© By Research Institute of Organic Agriculture
(FiBL), 2008. All
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(January 12, 2009) At the BioFach Congress 2009 numerous presentations will be given on issues related to the organic market in Europe and world-wide. The congress programme can now be downloaded at the BioFach homepage. 
(December 2, 2008) The European Union's and global agriculture face major challenges like climate change, loss of biodiversity, food security and depopulation of rural areas. 
(24.11.2008) The Newsletter No 7 of the QLIF proejct features a series of QLIF research articles on issues related to animal welfare and food quality, such as:
(November 16, 2008) The partners of the European project 
(October 29, 2008) The annual report 2007 of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) informs extensively about the activities of the Federation - for instance the conferences held in 2007, the Organic Guarantee System or membership developments. 
(October 15, 2008) From August 25-27, 2009 the international scientific conference “Fostering healthy food systems through organic agriculture –focus on Nordic-Baltic region” (NJF seminar 422) will take place in Tartu, Estonia. 
(October 1, 2008) From May 18-20, 2009 the Nordic Organic Conference (NOC) will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden. The aim is to create a Nordic forum with the focus on organic food and sustainable food production and consumption. 
(September 29, 2008) On September 1, 2008, the European research project CERTCOST - Economic analysis of certification systems for organic food and
farming - started. This project proposes to combine the experience and knowledge of both researchers and SMEs to fulfil the following objective: analyse the implementation of organic certification systems and estimate all relevant expenditures or transaction costs for different certification systems along the organic food supply chain in various regions of the EU, including a candidate country and Switzerland. The project will run for three years and is funded under the European Commission's 7th research framework programme with 2.7 million Euros. 
(August 22, 2008) A recent report of the Global Agriculture Information Network GAIN of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service FAS informs extensively about the current status of organic farming in Romania. 
(July 24, 2008) The 
(July 8, 2008) The 
(July 1, 2008) From 18 to 20 June 2008 the 
(June 12, 2008)
(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.
(June 9, 2008) According to the 
(June 7, 2008) www.bioaktuell.ch, the recently launched platform with technical information for Swiss organic farmers is now also available in French. 
(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. 
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. 
(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 
(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. 
(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.
Research
Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL
