Best projects awarded
Out of 33 finalized projects, FertilCrop and TILMAN-ORG were awarded as Best CORE Organic Projects.
The award was given at the recent CORE Organic 15th Anniversary Event, which took place on December 10 in Bonn, Germany.
Andreas Fliessbach, who coordinated FertilCrop*, and Paul Mäder, who coordinated TILMAN-ORG*, both from FiBL, received the award, which was selected based on five criteria:
- Impact on building the European Research Area and transnational work
- Scientific excellence reflected in publications
- Impact on policymaking and legislation
- Impact on farmers and advisory services
- Involvement of stakeholders and end-users
“It was a team effort, and everyone in the consortium worked very well together,” said Andreas Fliessbach when receiving the award. He also gave particular thanks to Helga Willer from FiBL, who did an excellent job coordinating the communication and dissemination part of both projects.
Both coordinators were given registration and travel fees for the Organic World Congress, which will be held in September 2020 in Rennes, France.
FertilCrop and TILMAN-ORG both made strides in the field of crop productivity and cropping systems
The overall goal of FertilCrop, which ran from 2015 to 2017 as part of CORE Organic Plus, was to develop efficient and sustainable management techniques aimed at increasing crop productivity in organic farming systems. TILMAN-ORG, which ran from 2011-2014 as part of CORE Organic II, focused on designing improved organic cropping systems with: enhanced productivity and nutrient use efficiency, more efficient weed management and increased biodiversity, but lower carbon footprints. Both projects produced a lot of information on crop productivity and cropping systems, such as a video tutorial for spade test and several technical notes.
* FertilCrop = Fertility Building Management Measures in Organic Cropping Systems, TILMAN-ORG = Reduced tillage and green manures for sustainable organic cropping systems
Written by: Laura Kemper, FiBL
Contacts
- Paul Mäder, Head of the Department of Soil Science, Phone +41 62 865-7232, e-mail paul.maeder@fibl.org
- Andreas Fliessbach, Group lead Soil Fertility, Phone +41 (0)62 865-7225, e-mail andreas.fliessbach@fibl.org
Relevant links
FertilCrop website: https://www.fertilcrop.net/
TILMAN-ORG website: https://www.tilman-org.net/
