News from the year 2020


December 16, 2020
Journal of Organic Farming, Volume 10, issue 4 published


We are pleased to deliver your requested table of contents alert for Organic Agriculture. Volume 10, Issue 4 is now available online.
ISOFAR membership gives free access to all articles in the journal, not just the ones below which are marked as open access. In order to use this benefit, create an account on our new website (the address is www.isofar.org or www.isofar.online). In the member area you'll find a link that directs you to the journal.
The Organic Agriculture Journal is not only open for you to read but also to publish - provided your work passes the review process. We therefore encourage you to hand in your own scientific papers (https://www.springer.com/journal/13165/submission-guidelines).

November 12, 2020
ISOFAR member Prof. Dr. Johannes Kahl, University of Kassel, died

On 12 November 2020, ISOFAR member and our long-time colleague and friend, Professor Johannes Kahl, died at the age of 52 after a long illness. Since 2016, he was Professor at the Faculty of Organic Agriculture at the University of Kassel (Germany) and head of the Department of Organic Food Quality. Prof. Kahl's lectures on 'Organic food system and sustainable diets' were very popular among students.
He has conducted many projects, e.g. Susplus project within Erasmus Plus ‘Innovative Education towards Sustainable Food Systems’, ProOrg project within ERANET Horizon 2020 ‘Code of Practice for organic food processing’ and project from Ekhaga scientific foundation 'Promoting human health and well-being by maintaining matrix related organic food qualities from field to fork' and Sysorg project within ERANET Horizon 2020 'Organic agro-food systems as models for sustainable food systems in Europe and Northern Africa'.
As member of ISOFAR and Chairman of the Food Quality and Health association (FQH), he worked intensively throughout all these years organizing scientific workshops within the association, developing joint scientific publications.
Prof. Johannes Kahl was an outstanding scientist, an excellent teacher and a great friend.
Honor His Memory!

October 31, 2020
Biofach India 2020: ISOFAR was organizing and contributing partner of the virtual scientific conference on the 31st October 2020.


Dr. Mahesh Chander, ISOFAR board member, has organized with his Indian friends an international scientific conference "Organic Farming Research, Technologies and Extension" at the Biofach 2020 in India. ISOFAR was partner, together with the Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research and others.
Because of CoVid-19, the event was done virtually. ISOFAR president Prof. Dr. Gerold Rahmann and ISOFAR board members Dr. Khalid Azim and Dr. Mahesh Chander gave speeches, related to Organic Agricultural Research, the methodology of a system and interdisciplinary approaches and the role of ISOFAR in the international networking of scientists.
About 250 participants have attended the event. Particularly in times under extreme restrictions of traveling, due to the pandemic CoVid-19, such events are very important to keep contact between each other and to give scientists a platform to present and discuss.
Here you can download the extended summery

October 16, 2020
World Food Day 2020: ISOFAR gave OA lecture at NOARAs celebration


United Nations World Food day 2020 was a global event, celebrated on the 16th October. ISOFAR was invited by the Network of Organic Agricultural Researchers in Africa (NOARA) to give a lesson about Organic Agricultural Research. President Prof. Dr. Gerold Rahmann gave a note about OA research in Germany, his concept about the AO and non-OA research differences and mutualities, his observations of OA research in Africa and recommendations for the future. A platform can be the Knowledge Centre of Organic Agriculture in Africa, financed by the German government with 23 mio Euro from 2019 - 2024.

August 30, 2020
Published in the journal “Agronomy” a study on research and innovation in organic farming in Italy


Promoted by the Italian scientific societies and organizations of the OFF sector (the Italian Association for Organic and Biodynamic Animal Production - Zoo.Bio.Di., the Italian Research Association on Organic Farming - GRAB-IT, the Italian Research Network for Organic Research – RIRAB,  and the European Association for Agroecology - Agroecology Europe), the study originates from the main outcomes that emerged during the World Café held in the frame of the Salone Internazionale del biologico e del naturale (SANA Expo) in 2018, where the Italian OFF research community met to build a convergence on scope and modus operandi in the research endeavor. These outcomes were examined in the light of the key features of the research and innovation projects funded in Italy in the last 10 years, respectively by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and the regional administrations through the innovation support instruments in the Rural Development Plan programming periods. In the period 2009–2018, 70 research projects for a total funding of 21.081 million € (<0.1% of the value of the sector) were launched, addressing nine different topic areas. Over a similar period (2007–2019), 53 regional innovation projects addressing organic farming were activated for a total budget of 14.299 million € (<10% of the entire available funding). The implementation of interventions in the research and the innovation areas were often scattered in terms of the topics, disciplines, and types of supply chain/network addressed. The relatively high share of multi/interdisciplinary research and innovation projects as well as the acknowledgement of the multi-actor approach as a fundamental step toward co-research and co-innovation were upshots that emerged from the analysis. The outcomes of this study can be used by competent national and the regional authorities to design their future research and innovation policies and interventions.

June 26, 2020
Webinar on Organic Farm Profitability and Biodiversity


The Organic Center will be hosting a free webinar on "Biodiversity and Profitability on Organic Farms - Environmental and Economic Benefits of Organic Practices" on Wednesday, July 1 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
A growing body of science shows that organic farming supports more biodiversity and can bring in more income than conventional farming, highlighting the environmental and economic benefits of using organic practices. What is less understood is how these benefits are affected by the farming landscape around organic operations. Join us to learn more about the study’s findings.
Presenters:
Amber Sciligo, PhD, Associate Director of Science Programs, The Organic Center
David W. Crowder, PhD, Associate Professor of Entomology, Washington State University
Olivia Smith, PhD, Postdoctoral researcher, Entomology Department, University of Georgia
This Webinar will be recorded, so be sure to register now to receive the recording straight to your inbox.
Register Here!

May 12, 2020
Message for ISOFAR members from the board


The ISOFAR board has discussed on the 8th May 2020 the impact of the postponement of the Organic World Congress towards Sept 8-10, 2021 in Rennes for the society. This message is to inform our members about the board recommendations and decisions.
Read more (only for members accessible)

April 24, 2020
Organic World Congress postponed to September 8-10, 2021


In light of recent developments around covid-19, the organizing committee has decided to postpone the Organic World Congress to September 8-10, 2021 (pre-conferences to take place September 6 and 7). We are grateful for the unwavering support from our international, national and local partners and are confident that this is the right decision for all involved.
Read more

March 13, 2020
Understanding origin of phosphonic acid in organic wine: the Italian BIOFOSF-WINE project


The undesired presence of phosphonic acid in organic wines in the EU market generates doubts in consumers and animates the debate among European policy makers. The workshop aims to share preliminary results of Italian BIOFOSF-WINE project on the origin of phosphonic acid contamination in organic wine.
Read more

February 20, 2020
Workshop on creation of Knowledge sub Hub Centre (KCOA) in Nigeria


A one day sensitization workshop was successfully held at Ibadan, Nigeria on February 20, 2020. The aim of the workshop was to sensitize selected stakeholders on the implementation of the Endogenous Knowledge Information Management System.
Read more

January 1, 2020
In memory of William Lockeretz


With sorrow, ISOFAR has received the news about our former board member, Professor Dr. William Lockeretz, that he passed away on December 12, 2019. Willie was his informal name, among his many friends in the worldwide organic movement. He made friends everywhere and could talk to anyone. He was an academic pioneer in organic agriculture in the United States of America, but also globally. He joined the board of ISOFAR at the establishment of this organisation in 2003 and kept his board position until 2011.
Read more

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