Research Institute of Organic Agriculture

The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (German: Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau, in short: FiBL), is an independent, non-profit research institute in the field of organic agriculture. It is located in Frick, Switzerland with branches in Germany and Austria.

Currently, FiBL Switzerland employs about 150 people. Since 1989, Urs Niggli has been the director of the institute.

History

The institute was founded in Switzerland in 1973 by a group organic farmers together with scientists in order to support organic farmers through research projects and advisory services.^[1]^[2]^[3] One of the founding members was Philippe Matile, professor at the ETH in Zürich, who came up with the design for the original FiBL logo, which later became logo of Bio Suisse, the umbrella organisation of the Swiss organic farmer organisations.^[4] The institute was located in Oberwil, canton of Basel Land from 1974 onwards. In 1997, it changed its locations to Frick in the canton of Aargau.

FiBL has organised several events in the past; among them are the 1st IFOAM Scientific Conference 1977 ^[5] in Sissach at the agricultural college of Ebenrain, and the 13th Conference (2000, in Basel).^[6]

Cooperation

FiBL Germany and FiBL Austria were established in 2000 and 2004, respectively. FiBL is a member of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM ^[7] and helped in establishing the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research ISOFAR. It maintains a vast European network of researchers and takes part in various EU projects.^[8] FiBL is also actively involved in Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa, in order to develop organic agriculture. The purpose is to provide best farming practice training materials to help smallholder farmers move to a more long-term and economically viable agriculture.

Departments

Soil Sciences: This department conducts research both in long-term field experiments and on-farm with the intention of showing the differences of conventional and organic farming systems in terms of effect on soil quality and need for fertilizer/energy.
Crop Sciences: The main goal of this department is to products of a high quality and quantity while keeping side effects as low as possible. This is achieved through crop management, pest/disease resistance and crop protection while optimizing eco-system services such as biodiversity, pollination, natural disease and pest control, and soil fertility.
Livestock Sciences: This department includes areas such as animal breeding and health. It is designed to improve livestock on organics holdings.
Socioeconomics: This department aims to develop a pool of shared knowledge in order to better understand the decision in rural areas for challenges in organic and sustainable farming.
Extension, Training and Communication: This department transfers the gained knowledge through research to the practitioners and to the broader public.
International Cooperation: This department helps developing and transitional countries through research and extension to develop sustainable market systems.

In addition, all-encompassing topics such as climate change and sustainability analyses.

Financing

The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and its advisory service are financed by the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG), the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), cantonal and municipal agricultural authorities, and private organizations (Coop, Bio Suisse, Hiscia, Migros and others) and individuals. Furthermore, FiBL finances itself by means of numerous pieces of commissioned research and is involved in many EU research projects.^[9]

Notes and references

↑ Niggli, Urs (2007). "Chapter 14: FiBL and Organic Research in Switzerland". In Lockeretz, William. Organic Farming: An International History. Cabi Intl. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-851-99833-6.
↑ Alföldi, Thomas (2011): Die FiBL-Chronik. Published on Youtube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZesPpumJplE&feature=related
↑ Moser, Peter(1994): Der Stand der Bauern. Bäuerliche Politik, Wirtschaft und Kultur gestern und heute. Huber, Frauenfeld. Information is available at https://www.swissbib.ch/Record/271412607
↑ Alföldi, Thomas (2011): On the death of Philippe Matile: "The bud Is the most notable mark I’ll leave". Published at the Website of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Frick, www.fibl.org. Available at http://www.fibl.org/de/service/nachrichtenarchiv/meldung/article/on-the-death-of-philippe-matile-the-bud-is-the-most-notable-mark-ill-leave.html
↑ Besson, J. M. & Vogtmann, H. (1978) Towards a Sustainable Agriculture. Conference proceedings of the first IFOAM conference, held in Sissach 1977. Verlag Wirz AG, Aarau, Switzerland
↑ Alföldi, Thomas, William Lockeretz, Urs Niggli (2000): Proceedings of the 13th International IFOAM Scientific Conference. Convention Center Basel, 28 to 31 August 2000. vdf Hochschulverlag an der ETH Zürich. Information available at https://www.swissbib.ch/Record/003440397
↑ International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (2015): The Organic Movement Worldwide: Membership E-Directory 2015. IFOAM, Bonn. Available at http://www.ifoam.bio/sites/default/files/directory_2015updated_lowres.pdf Accessed 13 August 2015
↑ FiBL (2015): FiBL Participation in Projects Funded by the European Union. The website of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Frick, www.fibl.org. Available at http://www.fibl.org/en/switzerland/research/eu-projects.html
↑ Lange, Stefan; Williges, Ute; Saxena, Shilpi; Willer, Helga (2006). "European Research in Organic Food and Farming" (PDF). Organic Eprints. Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE). Retrieved 11 August 2015.

External links

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