The Board of Directors of Wageningen UR has announced its decision to establish a new Organic Experimental and Educational Farm. This will offer Wageningen a dedicated location where university education and research will be focused on the best production methods for organic agriculture, the closing of cycles, and the integration of organic agriculture and nature. Wageningen UR expects the farm to enhance its position in the educational and research fields. The investment forms part of Wageningen URs ongoing policy in the organic sector, which has already seen the creation of a special Organic Production Sciences course and the further expansion of research in the field of organic agriculture.
The Organic Experimental and Educational Farm will be on a location totalling 50 hectares in Wageningen, with particular attention being paid to natural elements. In the coming years, existing buildings will be renovated and a start has already been made with the organisation of the plots.
The farm offers space for research and education to Dutch and foreign students and scientists from Wageningen University and the other Wageningen institutes. In addition, specific room will be created for receiving groups from further afield, such as agricultural schools, organic farmers and market gardeners, (potential) converts, and nature and environmental organisations.
Students and scientists from a wide range of disciplines will make use of the farm. There is currently interest among researchers active in environmental sciences, animal sciences and plant sciences.
The Wageningen Organic Experimental and Educational Farm will be established as a mixed farm, with as closed a cycle as possible. A crop rotation of 1:8 will be adhered to on the 32 hectares of arable land. Three of the eight years will be a grass/clover mixture, while the other years will see potato, sugar beet, cereals (two years) and vegetables cultivated.
As the farm will accommodate around 65 bulls, the existing cubicles will be renovated. In addition, other farm animals will be kept on the site, including chickens.
The Wageningen Organic Experimental and Educational Farm will also offer added value to the local environment, for example via a pool containing amphibians and the provision of large green spaces between the plots. In setting up the location, the existing landscape is being carefully taken into account.
List of press releases for 2002