How to find research-based information on organic agriculture
Although the time and effort spent on organic research is considerably less than that expended on conventional agriculture, the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), land-grant universities, non-governmental organizations, and private companies have all been involved in organic research. Funding for organic research comes primarily from two USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) programs: Sustainable Agriculture Research Education (SARE) and the Integrated Organic Program. The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) has been a major non-governmental funder of organic agriculture research in the US. The purpose of OFRF has also been to increase awareness of the need for research and promote greater public funding of research in organic agriculture. Based on the increasing role of CSREES in funding organic research, the role of OFRF as a funder in this realm is decreasing.
Summaries of organic research funded by CSREES Integrated Organic Program, SARE, and OFRF can be found on their respective Web pages:
CSREES Integrated Organic Program—Abstracts of funded projects
www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/fundview.cfm?fonum=1141
SARE research reports
www.sare.org/projects
OFRF research reports
www.ofrf.org/research/reports.html
OFRF funded projects
www.ofrf.org/research/OFRF_Grants_Since_1990.pdf (PDF)
OFRF has also conducted two “State of the States” surveys, the
first published in 2001 and the second in 2003. These surveys
examine organic systems research at land-grant institutions. www.ofrf.org/publications/SoS/SoS2.overview.page.html
Rodale Institute is a long-time participant in organic research. Founded in 1947 by J.I. Rodale as the Soil and Health Institute, the Rodale Institute is the former publisher of Organic Farming and Gardening and the current publisher of the on-line journal New Farm. The primary research at this Institute has been based on a long-term comparison of conventional, manure-based, and legume-based field crop systems. A summary of research conducted in conjunction with the Rodale long-term farming systems trial is available at www.newfarm.org/research/2005/jun05/tri_guide.shtml.
In January, 2005, the USDA Agriculture Research Service held their first national conference on organic agricultural research. They used this conference to review their work to date on organics and to encourage ARS researchers to conduct more research on organic agriculture. Their prior and on-going research projects can be searched by topic or title at www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm.
The professional societies of agricultural scientists have acknowledged the importance, and scientific credibility, of organic agriculture. The annual meetings of these societies include presentations that address organic agricultural production, processing, or marketing. Most of these societies also have official committees or working groups that focus on organic agricultural issues. In addition, journals of these organizations regularly publish peer-reviewed papers on organic agriculture. For more information, see the Web pages of these societies.
Agronomy Society of America
www.agronomy.org
Crop Science Society of America
www.crops.org
Soil Science Society of America
www.soils.org
American Society of Horticultural Sciences
www.ashs.org
American Agricultural Economics Association
www.aaea.org
CAB International, publishers of Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems
and several peer-reviewed scientific publications, compiled a comprehensive
Organic Farming CD-ROM containing more than 100,000 literature
citations. It is available by subscription through the CABI Web site.
www.organic-research.com
The Organic AgInfo Web page provides a searchable database of technical,
educational, and research information related to organic agriculture.
It was developed by the Organic Agriculture Consortium (OAC)/Scientific
Congress on Organic Agricultural Research (SCOAR) and funded by the
United States Department of Agriculture. The OAC includes Ohio State
University, North Carolina State University, Iowa State University, Tufts
University, and the Organic Farming Research Foundation.
www.organicaginfo.org
The Alternative Farming Systems Information Center of the USDA
National Agricultural Library provides a searchable database for
research and educational projects related to sustainable and organic
agriculture. It also provides recommendations for how to search databases
for information on organic agriculture.
www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/ofp
Several publications written and distributed by ATTRA, the National
Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, provide information about
organic research projects and research results in their reference sections
and resource lists.
www.attra.ncat.org
Two comprehensive bibliographies of organic farming systems were compiled
by Paul Kristiansen of the University of New England in Amidale,
New South Wales, Australia. These lists include research conducted and
published in the U.S. as well as in other countries. Titled “References
relevant to organic farming” and “Reports comparing organic and other
farming systems,” these bibliographies can be found at the UNE Web site.
www.une.edu.au/agronomy/agsystems/organic/library/library.html