Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 15.1
Private institutes
Country
Organisation
Year established
Germany
Institute for Biodynamic Agriculture
1950
Switzerland
Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau
1974
Netherlands
Louis Bolk Institute
1976
United States of
America
Rodale Institute
1976 (founded in
1947)
Austria
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute
1980
United Kingdom
Elm Farm Research Station
Henry Doubleday Research Association
1982
1984
Sweden
Biodynamic Research Institute
1986
groups of individuals with a strong personal commitment to organic or biodynamic agriculture.
Many of those same individuals were responsible for the 1st International Scientific Conference
of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) held in 1977, and
described by Niggli (2002) as the debut of organic farming research. Some of the private organi-
sations, such as the Louis Bolk Institute, were founded to allow researchers to pursue research
that was not accepted by conventional scientific organisations, such as homeopathic studies (Van
Mansfeld and Amons 1975). However, it was really during the 1980s that public funding for
organic agricultural research started to become available. During the same period, positions and
departments of ecological and organic agriculture began to appear in universities in Europe. The
first chairs of organic or alternative agriculture in Europe were established at the University of
Kassel at Witzenhausen, Germany, and Wageningen University in the Netherlands in 1981; the
first Chair in Biodynamic Agriculture was established at Kassel in 2005.
During the 1980s in the United States of America (USA) there was one United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture (USDA) post assigned to work with the Rodale Institute, Pennsylvania
(Parr 2003), although there were other linkages between farmers, university staff and USDA
staff during this period (Jawson and Bull 2002). Support for USDA involvement in organic
research was only realised in 1998 when the Organic Farming Bill was finally passed by the US
Congress. The first faculty position dedicated to organic farming in a Land Grant University
was established at Iowa State in 1997 (Delate and DeWitt 2004). The situation has changed
rapidly, however, and in September 2003, the USDA announced US$4.5 million in grants for
organic agriculture projects (USDA 2004). In Australia, research is funded from levies paid by
producers and matched by Commonwealth funding, as well as by state departments of agricul-
ture and universities. Wynen (2003) estimated that in 2001 only around two-thirds of the
A$656,200 funding was actually spent on research that directly benefited organic farming.
The USDA funding for organic research is aimed at helping farmers and ranchers to increase
the production of high quality products while decreasing costs (USDA 2004). The focus of the
research appears to be very much within the farm, and orientated towards production rather
than the environment. The five-year R&D Plan for Organic Produce (2001-2006) formulated
in Australia by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) covers
many aspects of the supply chain both on and off farm, with market development and com-
munication featuring heavily (RIRDC 2005). The
European
Action
Plan
for
Organic
Food
and
Farming
was launched in June 2004 (Commission of the European Communities 2004). Action
7 relates specifically to strengthening research on organic agriculture and production methods.
One area that is highlighted in the plan is the need for research in the processing sector of the
organic food chain. Within the Sixth Framework Programme (2002-2006) of the Commission
of the European Communities there is no specific 'agriculture' priority but relevant topics are
contained within the programs on 'Food quality and safety', 'Sustainable development, global
