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FiBL is a private institute conducting research about organic farming...
approaches to raising animals and growing plants including rapeseed.
The increase in rapeseed production in Europe in recent years is evident.
Unfortunately most of this is conventional rapeseed used for biodiesel.
The area being farmed organically hasn't increased,
but a large amount of organic rapeseed oil is still being produced.
On the one hand, FiBL actively engages in research to find new solutions to problems.
On the other hand, we have in-house advisors,
who coach farmers on site and accompany cultivation.
In conventional agriculture farmers are usually confronted with the problem...
of choosing the right pesticides.
When specific pesticides are sprayed for longer periods insects become resistant.
This makes ongoing development of new agents necessary;
farmers have to permanently get up-to-date...
about the current effectiveness of agents to achieve the best results in the field.
Another problem is that regular use of insecticides kills beneficial organisms:
when natural enemies of pests no longer exist
the ecosystem balance is disrupted...
which in turn leads to the necessity to repeatedly use insecticide.
The big advantage of organic rapeseed is that it can be grown without pesticides.
This means the flowering rapeseed is available to bees, which can...
collect plenty of nectar, an important aspect in today's over-cleared agro-landscape.
A further advantage is that untreated rapeseed fields are a refuge for beneficial organisms...
creating conditions for biodiversity in the organic rapeseed fields.
Diversity of species is maintained, no pesticide is released into the water...
and no residues in the harvested crops, which is also beneficial for consumers.
The income of organic farmers from rapeseed is almost as high as conventional farmers earn...
because the producer price for organic rapeseed is nearly twice as much as
for conventional rapeseed.
This makes some diminishing in yield tolerable and such losses can also...
be avoided by using preventative agents or traditional means, e.g., rock dust,
which can be applied to plants by spraying or dusting.
Also manure can be applied just before flowering.
Then the fields smell like manure and not like rapeseed.
This confuses pests when they approach the fields.
Farmers are motivated to change for several reasons.
On the one hand, constantly comparing themselves with neighbors
they see that info sheets and advisors are available...
for organic farming: this intensive coaching helps clarify complex issues.
On the other hand, farmers naturally also notice the price:
there is a big difference...
between CHF 90 / quintal for conventional rapeseed
and CHF 220 for organic rapeseed.
Eventually farmers start to calculate.
The products of existing organic farms, which are commercially available,
prove that it can work.
The farmer just has to be ready to deal with relatively complex issues...
instead of just using the fastest and simplest solution -- spraying pesticide.
When people talk about the bees dying they usually only speak about honey bees...
and all the wild bees, the great diversity existing in nature, are unappreciated.
Presently they are also not doing so well.
To help we've launched a project for wild bees:
we aim to plant flower strips in the landscape...
so that flowers and nectar are always available to wild as well as honey bees.