Research funding for 15 new organic projects

The projects awarded within the organic programme come from six different areas and involves organic broiler, feed for dairy cows, resistant potatoes, field beans as pig feed, control of storage diseases on apples and pears as well as variety mixtures in crop production.

- The projects have a wide disciplinary distribution and each of them will strengthen the organic production and also provide new knowledge to conventional agriculture and horticulture, says Lena Strålsjö, the foundation's director of research.

In addition to the projects awarded in the special organic programme, nine more organic agriculture projects received money within the regular research programs. Six projects in crop production and horticulture and one project each in entrepreneurship, meat and broiler production were granted.

- They are projects that the research foundation's evaluation panels assessed having both high relevance to industry and high scientific quality, says Lena Strålsjö.

This year's special organic programme is financed by 12 million SEK from the Swedish Research Council Formas and SEK 500 000 from the organisation KRAV. The other organic projects are funded in their respective research programmes with a combination of private funds and public financing from Formas.

Projects in the organic research programme

Sustainable production systems for organic chicken meat - Effect of breeding material and production environment on productivity, animal welfare and environmental impact
Anna Wallenbeck, SLU

Producing milk with forage and grain only – an organic model that could be economically viable, but does all cows fit?
Rolf Spörndly, SLU

Development of late blight resistant potato varieties for the whole of Sweden
Ulrika Carlson-Nilsson, SLU

Field beans to pork in conventional and organic production – properties and usability of different varieties
Maria Neil, SLU

Development of control strategy against storage diseases in organic apples and pears, a collaborative project
Marie Olsson, SLU

Variety mixing – a robust cropping system
Velemir Ninkovic, SLU

Organic agriculture projects within the ordinary research programmes

 ”You don’t get anything for nothing”– how can ecosystem services be included in the farm’s sustainability work?
Christel Cederberg, SIK – the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology

New method for determining virulence of footrot bacteria in sheep
Erik Eriksson, National Veterinary Institute

Mapping the intestinal health of organic chicken and efficacy of vaccination against coccidiosis
Désirée Jansson, National Veterinary Institute

Control strategies with mini fallow and interval crops against black and green nightshade in an organic crop rotation with potato, carrot and onion
David Hansson, SLU

Application technique with a focus on biological plant protection
Klara Löfkvist, JTI – Swedish Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering

Breeding of pea for increased resistance to root rot
Magnus Karlsson, SLU

Effective utilization of slurry and digestate – Online analysis of manure quality that enables balanced fertilization
Bo Stenberg, SLU

Control of insect pests in clover seed crops with biological methods
Olle Anderbrandt, Lund University

Increased harvest and crop safety with optimized distribution of seeds in the row at sowing on 25 cm row spacing
Per Ståhl, Swedish Rural Economy and Agricultural Societies