Organic Agriculture
Transversal Research Unit in Organic Agriculture
A few facts and figures
The CRA-W conducts about 120 research projects and offers more than 60 types of services. Some 70% of these projects apply to organic farming:
- 20% of research projects are focused on organic farming.
- 50% apply to both the conventional and organic farming sectors.
Research programme
The CRA-W was commissioned by the office of the Walloon Minister of Agriculture in 2013 to implement the BIO2020 research programme (2013-2020). A cross-disciplinary unit (CtRAb) was set up in 2015 to coordinate this programme and organic farming research within the CRA-W.
Methods
The CtRAb carries out collaborative and cross-disciplinary research to meet the demands of the sector. Its ambition is to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and innovative organic farming solutions, while enabling other forms of agriculture to reap the benefits of these innovations.
The CtRAb's lines of investigation are as follows
- Developing and implementing a CRA-W organic farming research plan, based on the needs of the sector;
- Making an inventory of existing R&D skills and scientific work, thanks to the creation of a documentary base;
- Incorporating Walloon organic farming research work into the Belgian and European area through the creation of partnerships;
- Contributing to the exploitation of research findings.