Agro-ecology: Science & Practice for Sustainable Farming

Come and hear experts offer challenging views on the use of energy in society and agriculture, showing how the application of agro-ecology to crop production can improve energy balances while maintaining biodiversity in agricultural systems. See our crop and agroforestry research in action, featuring our population breeding programme and the latest from Brussels on seed regulations. More...

Register online

Population trials demonstrate principle of resilience

After a very difficult winter when many autumn sown crops failed to establish, ORC's wheat population trials are showing how just a few days made all the difference between a modern variety, Alchemy, not surviving while the populations flourished. The trial in the top picture was drilled on 16 October 2012, the trial in the bottom picture on 25 October, with the gaps showing where Alchemy was sown. Photos were taken in the third week of May 2013.

New job vacancy at ORC

We are looking for a Crops Researcher with plant/ ecological genetics expertise to be based at our Wakelyns Agroforestry site in Suffolk. More...

ORC Organic Producers' Conference

2013 Proceedings now available. Our next conference will be 22-23 January 2014 in Birmingham.

Find out what we do

• Research
• Advice and education
• Policy and debates
• Information and publications

2011/12 Organic Farm Management Handbook - the essential reference for organic businesses.

The next edition will not be available until later in 2013. There are a few copies of the current edition left. Order your copy now!

New projects starting at the Organic Research Centre

The Organic Research Centre is leading a European-wide project to support the development of plant breeding focused on the needs of organic producers. Funded through the CORE Organic II Eranet, with Defra providing the financial support for ORC and other UK work, the project aims to improve seed quality and health, promote genetic and crop diversity, and encourage the adoption of suitable materials by organic producers. More...

The aim of this project is to demonstrate that local short chain systems using biomass from landscape elements for local energy or heat production are economically feasible. Through realizing these short chain systems and bringing together experiences from different partners and regions in North Western Europe, we want to demonstrate that this currently unused biomass from landscape elements can contribute to local sustainable energy production, with respect to ecological, social and cultural aspects. ORC will work with farmers, land owners and the local community to develop a pilot energy co-operative using woody biomass from local landscape elements. This project has received European Regional Development Funding through INTERREG IV B. More...

Issues relating to sustainability have always been included in the competence of many organic advisers, but increasing public awareness and demands from the supply chain require greater evidence that organic farming delivers on its claims. The use of a robust toolkit and related training will ensure greater consistency in the advice given to farmers and the implementation of this advice should satisfy the demands made by the public, government bodies and organic trading companies. ORC contributes to curriculum development, hosts one of the two-day workshops and develops a quality management plan to guide the appropriate management of the project. More...

Organic greenhouse horticulture (OGH) in the EU should improve its sustainability, production and productivity. This COST Action aims to improve and disseminate knowledge for new and better production strategies, methods and technologies to support sustainable and productive organic greenhouse/protected horticulture in the EU. More...

The overall aim of the project is to transfer the FAO SAFA guidelines into a set of societal level indicators (i.e. water quality, soil health, biodiversity) which can be used in a sustainability monitoring system of organic/ecological farms. It is intended that the indicator sets will be appropriate for labelling, policy- monitoring and farmer-decision making approaches. As project leader, ORC will engage with all areas of the project. More...

ORC is the lead research partner in this programme run by the Soil Association and funded by the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation thanks to Waitrose sales of organic food under the Duchy Originals brand. The programme focuses on helping producers develop low-cost, sustainable solutions that rely on management practices or renewable resources. It is a concerted drive to boost innovation in organic and other low-input farming, aiming to improve productivity and environmental benefits. ORC’s role is to support a) the identification of research priorities through its Participatory Research Network, b) the development of producer-led projects and partnerships with relevant researchers and c) the communication of research results. More...

Despite its high profile in agriculture, particularly organic agriculture, the notion of health in agricultural contexts is currently not well defined or subject to conceptual disagreements. This lack of clarity creates a vacuum in which potentially misleading claims about health benefits can be made. If health in humans, animals, soil and plants is such an important goal, it needs to be clear what is meant by it. In this 15-month, Ekhaga Foundation-funded, ORC-led international project that started in April 2012, the aim is to clarify and critically assess health concepts to contribute to a new enlightened vision of health and to identify new pathways for improving health in agricultural systems. More...

This EU FP7-funded project aims in both organic and conventional systems to increase the duration of soil coverage by plants, to introduce diversity to the crop rotation and to reduce the need for and the intensity of soil tillage, with particular attention given to conservation tillage systems. The four-year project started in April 2012 and is led by the Univeristy of Kassel, Germany. ORC will lead the dissemination activities and will develop a toolbox for using cover crops and living mulches. More...