Switzerland and China: collaboration agreement signed

Recently, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences established the new Sino-Swiss Organic Agriculture Research Center (SSOARC) in China. With this new institute, FiBL and IGDB will provide a wide range of services in the field of knowledge transfer and research.

FiBL reported in March that with the signing of the five-year bilateral cooperation agreement in China the new joint organic research center SSOARC was established. FiBL and IGDB – both with strong scientific research teams - will cooperate in developing research programs on organic agriculture that address issues like organic plant breeding, plant and microbiota interactions, fertilizer and compost, organic crop cultivation and protection and animal health.

For the Chinese, food supply and food safety are very important for their 1.3 billion people, and SSOARC will play a leading role in the fields of research, training, advisory services and knowledge transfer of organic agriculture in China. Both IGDB and FiBL will benefit greatly from this cooperation.

With its commitment to overcoming the lack of organic agricultural research in China and promoting the development of organic agriculture, the new research center's remit provides timely support for the new strategy of the Chinese Central Government. Its aim is a change in agricultural and rural areas from over-reliance on resource consumption to the pursuit of green, ecologically sustainable agriculture. The related strategic document supports the establishment of a number of modern agricultural science and technology innovation centers and innovation alliances.

Sino-Swiss Organic Agriculture Research Center (SSOARC)

The research center will be located at both the Genetic Resources Research and Development Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Changzhou City in the Jiangsu Province in the East of China and at the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Frick, Switzerland.