EU urged to boost organic research

EU and global agriculture face major challenges like climate change, loss of biodiversity, food security and depopulation of rural areas. The research Technology Platform ‘Organics’ (www.tporganics.eu), which has just been launched with a public presentation at the permanent representation of the Czech Republic 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 the support of his ministry for the Platform in an opening greeting. TP ‘Organics’ is also being supported by a growing number of organisations representing the industry, the research community and the civil society. “EU should lose no time and use the tool of the 7th EU Research Framework programme to boost organic research”, urges Marco Schlüter, director of the IFOAM EU Group, “The EU can’t allow missing this chance to foster innovations and economic development in line with the need of society for sustainable solutions. Sufficient efforts in organic research are of outmost importance to secure future potentials.”
 

The Technology Platform ‘Organics’ brings together the organic sector, research community and civil society to identify research needs and priorities and to enhance the development of organic food production and with this its benefits for the society. It follows the model of so called technology platforms acknowledged by the EU. The strong involvement of civil society makes TP ‘Organics’ unique. "Civil society wants to be involved in research policy, because the budgets and priorities set for research today largely define how society will look like in 20 years - it is not the competitiveness of a given industrial sector alone that matters!”, thinks Eric Gall from the Fondation Sciences Citoyennes. “Consumers increasingly choose foods which satisfy high quality, environmental and social standards. These added values are part of the organic food ethics and praxis. And the EU consumers widely recognise that”, says Rosita Zilli from Eurocoop.
 

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