ORGANIC

ORGANIC

Oikodrom, the vienna institute for urban sustainability

ORGANIC: Organic Regional Agriculture saving Nature in China

The project ORGANIC sets up an exchange network for organic agriculture and green food production between Austrian and Chinese agricultural scientists and practitioners with the aim of compiling a catalogue for environmental sound agriculture in China with drawbacks for Austria.
The austrian partner introduces the conceptual framework of organic agriculture including international standards (IFOAM) putting emphasis on its resource saving potential  conservation and amelioration of the soil , water saving potential, maintenance of bio-diversity and original eco-systems.
The chinese partner  provides an overview over the Chinese Concept of Green Food Production. This theoretical exchange is realised by presentations and workshops applying different scientific and participatory methods. The theoretical part is accompanied by field visits of two selected villages, one in China operating Green Food Production and one in Austria, which follows a comprehensive approach of organic production and regional marketing. China feeds 22% of the world population with only 7% of the planet‘s arable land. Therefore the nutrition security in China faces its limits, since organic farming is still being neglected and China tries to emphasize production volume and industrialisation of its agriculture, primarily of necessity to ensure food supply for all its citizens without considering aspects of quality. Awareness is growing that food security in endangered by the rapid environment pollution.

ORGANIC pleads to apply the UN -concept of food security: “…if everybody at all time has enough access to secure and nutritious food, guaranteeing an active and healthy life”. The project describes traditional Chinese agricultural techniques such as the unique organic farming technique of breading ducks in rice fields, thereby raising the profit of the farmland, or the “pig-methane-fruit” mode.
In this cooperation project, Austria contributes a set of management systems such as “crop rotation”, green manures and mixed crop as well as key innovative technologies such as soil quality management and soil working.
The outcome will be a set of new standards and a comprehensive technical system for the production of rice and organic tea in the mountainous red soil regions of Southern China.

ORGANIC has organized a lot of excursions for personal encounters between China and Austria; the Chinese visitors in Austria became acquainted with ecologically oriented organic farms and regions.
The Oikodrom team held participatory workshops in Chinese villages. The target of the project is the construction of two educational facilities on an area of 150 hectares, where organic agriculture and management of cooperatives can be exercised. We are also elaborate two testing examples for recycling basic raw material in organic agriculture and the submission of two new technical patents for producing organic bio-fertilizers. Long term-objective is the formation
of an “ecological – organic -planning – area Poyang Lake”.

More about ORGANIC

Project coordination: Oikodrom, Austria
Project lead: Heidi Dumreicher

Project partner:
Jiangxi Association for Science and Technology (JAST) Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS)
Organic Regional Agriculture saving the Nature in China

Funded by:
Federal Ministry of Science and Research (BM.W_F) Vienna, Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research (OeAD-GmbH)

Project number: CN 18-2007

Duration: 2007-2009