EU: New resources on organic protected cropping available
The full title of this COST project is "Towards a sustainable and productive EU organic greenhouse horticulture" and it has been running for 4 years. It brought together a network of institutions and experts from 27 countries including Canada, Jordan and Egypt who have worked together in work groups to bring together the latest information and research results from across the full spectrum of organic greenhouse cropping.
The project has concluded with a major International Symposium on Organic Greenhouse Horticulture, in Izmir, Turkey where it delivered more than 50 presentations in 12 well-attended workshops. The topics included nursery management, soil fertility, compost, water management, pest management, sensible use of energy, marketing, and food safety. The Symposium also featured a comprehensive programme of scientific papers and an FAO workshop on best practice for crops in SE Europe.
The network has published 10 scientific reviews and papers (4 published and 6 in print) about major issues in organic greenhouse horticulture. It has published 6 books/booklets and 17 factsheets, and has also produced guidelines for organic horticulture research and tools for sustainability assessment. The publications represent a valuable source of the latest information on organic greenhouse/protected horticulture for growers, suppliers, consultants, students, teachers, researchers and policy makers. They are freely available at the website of the COST Action through the following link: http://biogreenhouse.org/public-documents and they will also soon be available through www.agricology.co.uk.
At the Symposium hard copies of the publications were formally presented by Rob Meijer, chair of BioGreenhouse, to Professor Uygun Aksoy of IFOAM International and Roger Hitchings representing IFOAM EU. Uygun Aksoy said: ”Scientific results and pieces of work, as those produced by the COST Action BioGreenhouse surely contribute to the progress of organic agriculture throughout the World. We really appreciate the work done by many experts from 27 countries and believe that these documents will guide both the researchers, farmers and consultants especially in the field of protected crop production.” OGA Secretary Roger Hitchings commented "These comprehensive and detailed publications represent a considerable amount of hard work and will be a major resource for both growers and researchers in the years to come."
The project and the Symposium raised a number of important issues not least the vexed questions of energy efficiency, production in soil (or not), and the problems of nutrient management in intensive systems. A report on these and other topics will appear in the next issue of the Organic Grower.
Source: Organic Growers Alliance