Abstract
Across Europe, there has been an ongoing discussion regarding inputs into organic agriculture and horticulture, which are considered more or less contentious. These discussions have contributed to the decision by the European Horizon-2020 research programme to invest 8 million Euros into two 4-year projects, starting in 2018. This paper provides research approaches from one of those successful projects from the call: Organic-PLUS. The focus is on research relevant to organic horticulture (and non-organic horticulture). This includes alternatives to the use of copper and mineral oils used for plant protection, with a special focus on potatoes, perennial Mediterranean crops like olives and citrus and greenhouse crops like tomatoes and aubergines. Further research is on better organic fertilisers such as non-animal derived fertilisers, which are compatible with 'Vegan Organic Standards', but also other 'bio-economy fertilisers', which make use of existing resources, like fishpond sediments and marine-derived fertilisers. Alternatives to peat as a growing media, an area where peat replacement is most challenging, i.e., in specialised nursery crops will also be researched and discussed. The increasing use of plastic mulch materials and potential impact of plastic and alternative mulch materials on soil pollutants will be evaluated. We will use the phase-out of peat as an example to discuss voluntary, industry-lead approaches compared to legislative ones, and discuss how this relates to the revised EU organic regulation adopted in June 2018.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 211-217 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Acta Horticulturae |
| Volume | 1286 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Jul 2020 |
| Event | XXX International Horticultural Congress IHC2018: II International Symposium on Organic Horticulture for Wellbeing of the Environment and Population - Istanbul, Turkey Duration: 12 Aug 2018 → 16 Aug 2018 Conference number: 30 https://www.ishs.org/symposium/669 |
Bibliographical note
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The topical work is supported by WP IMPACT. This includes collection of information concerning current consumer conceptions of contentious inputs (using surveys and citizen juries), establishment of a comprehensive database of key stakeholders throughout Europe and coordination of dissemination activities. All work packages feed into WP MODEL where scenarios for the phasing out of contentious inputs from organic agriculture are designed. This includes environmental and sustainability assessments of the proposed alternatives using a variety of life cycle assessment tools. The WP LEAD coordinates the project, ensuring transparent and participatory communication flow across work packages and among the multi-actor stakeholders but also with business and policy actors in the organic and non- organic food and farming sector in the EU and globally. The creation of the international scientific advisory and the European industry advisory boards maximises impact to industry and policy development.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| European Horizon 2020 | 774340 |
Keywords
- Contentious inputs
- Copper
- Immunostimulatory plant products
- Marine-derived fertilisers
- Mineral oils
- Peat
- Plastic
- Scenario modelling
- Vegan fertilizers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Horticulture
