New Swedish research agenda for organic food and farming

The comprehensive process behind the agenda was led by Epok and started already in 2020. Stakeholders along the whole organic food chain, as farmers, advisors, NGO’s, researchers, retail representatives, research funding bodies, authorities, public purchasers and more have been involved.   

The purpose of the research agenda is to:

• contribute to organic food and farming research being relevant for different stakeholders
• contribute to research on organic farming promoting increased sustainability in both organic and other agricultural systems
• identify research that is needed to achieve political targets for organic food and farming development
• promote collaboration and interdisciplinarity

The agenda is structured within 13 research themes:

• Healthy soil and plant nutrition
• Sustainable production in fields, tunnels, and greenhouses
• Agroecological solutions for plant protection
• The farm animals
• Production in water
• Sustainable varieties and breeds
• Focus on humans
• Technologies that make a difference
• How do we know what's sustainable?
• The food we are eating
• Politics, consumption, and the market
• The visionary future organic farming
• How do we develop knowledge?

Although the agenda mostly focuses on research needs in a Swedish national perspective, it has also been a wish to connect it to a European context. Therefore, at the end of each identified research theme in the agenda, together with the summarized research needs, related areas prioritized in TP Organic's “Strategic research & innovation agenda for organics and agroecology'” (published in December 2019) are indicated.