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COURSE DESCRIPTION
Lecturers:
Egbert Lantinga, Erika Speelman, Kees van Veluw, Pablo Modernel, Dirk van Apeldoorn (FSE),
Cor Langeveld (CSA), Hans van Trijp and Ynte van Dam (MCB), Jessica Duncan (RSO),
2.3.1 LECTURES 5 5
2.3.3 EXCURSIONS 5
5. LITERATURE 8
6 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 9
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1. INTRODUCTION
The development of organic agriculture started as a response to excessive use of chemical fertilizers
and pesticides during the middle of the 20th century. During the early sixties Rachel Carson, became a
pioneer of the environmental movement after publishing silent spring. This book extensively
described potential threats of biocide-based agriculture: what we have to face is not an occasional
dose of poison which accidently goes into some article of food, but a persistent and continuous
poisoning of the whole human environment. What started as a critical note on main-stream
agriculture has evolved to a global movement for increased sustainability. The paradigm people,
planet and profit is currently being adapted by increasing number of small and large (corporate)
businesses. In a time of global crisis, organic agriculture is continuing to be one of the fastest growing
segments in production agriculture. Moreover, during the past decades conventional growers are also
increasingly implementing practices to address sustainability issues. This as a response to an
continuously growing group of increasingly aware consumers that demand products that are being
grown in an environmental-friendly and socially-acceptable manner. Therefore, there is a need for
students and professionals to gain a better understanding of different aspects of the organic sector
and to critically assess its potential role in global food production and rendering desirable ecosystem
services. At WUR, we have developed an unique training program centered around organic agriculture
(MOA) of which this course is an integral part. In addition, this course is open to students from
different disciplines and backgrounds. It provides an overview of key components and aspects of the
entire organic production chain and specific applications. It provides a platform for system-based
learning and critical thinking which will be put into an applied context via excursions of diverse organic
operations. In addition, the course will allow students to enhance their presentation, group work and
communication skills. During this course, we follow the production chain from farm to fork and
students will be exposed to a range of production, processing and marketing strategies aiming to make
organic foods more readily available to a larger group of people. The format of the course consists of:
(guest) lectures, exercises, excursions, student presentations, and group work.
FIGURE 1: COURSE OVERVIEW PER COURSE WEEK SHOWING MAIN AND SUB COMPONENTS.
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2.3.1 LECTURES
During lectures, we will outline key components of the entire organic production chain. The power
point presentation of lecturers will be made available on blackboard via my portal
(https://myportal.wur.nl). Active participation and attendance of lectures are required since they also
entail discussions, assignments, and team activities and are therefore integral part of this course.
Students are expected to read a selection of scientific papers supporting the lectures. These papers
will be made available on blackboard. An overview of these selected papers can be found at the end of
this document.
2.3.4 EXCURSIONS
A total of six excursions will complement the lectures. For every excursion, adequate preparation is
needed. Please discuss the excursion in advance within your group research project teams and
prepare a list of questions. Possible questions to ask during excursions may include:
How important is this type of operation in the Netherlands?
How large is the operation that you visited and is it representative of the sector and/or what
are its unique or differentiating features?
What crops are grown/animals are being kept
What kind of mechanization is being used and what strategies do farmers use for enhancing
soil fertility and quality?
How does the operation enhance biodiversity ?
How does the operation deal with ethical issues?
What are the main production constraints and ongoing innovations?
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What are the marketing outlets that are being used and are producers involved in direct
marketing and/or added value activities?
What recommendations could you make to make the system more sustainable/profitable
both in terms of farm design and resource management?
What is the processing and marketing chain like for these products?
Excursions are obligatory. All excursions will be by bus or by bike and will will leave from in front of
Radix at 8.30hrs. It is advisable to bring rain boots, rain coat and warm clothing for the field
excursions.
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Excursion 5 (by BIKE)
The fifth excursion during the course week in which well focus on marketing, will be to a local
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operation, named the Nieuwe Ronde, in Wageningen
(http://www.denieuweronde.nl/index.php/info2/information-in-english.html). This operation has a
very specific marketing strategy in which trust and commitment plays an important part. On an annual
basis, people can pay to become a member. Members are allowed to assist in the agricultural work on
the farm and harvest for their own consumption what they need.
The group research report will judged based on the following criteria:
Format includes lay-out, structure, presentation (20%)
Language includes writing style, grammar, spelling (10%)
Content creativity, correct application of concepts, critical analysis (70%)
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4. LOCATIONS AND CONTACT DETAILS
All lectures, practicals and group work are scheduled in the Orion and Forum buildings but
check the detailed schedule below for specific times and locations and planned activities
during the course, as rooms maybe changed during the coming weeks!
The detailed schedule can be found on blackboard.
For the excursions, we will meet in front of the Radix building at 8.30hrs.
5. LITERATURE
5.1 OBLIGATORY READING
Week 1
Kristansen, P.,2006. Overview of organic agriculture, IN: P Kristiansen, A Taji & J Reganold
(eds), Organic Agriculture: A Global Perspective, CSIRO, Collingwood, Vic. pp. 1-23,
http://www.publish.csiro.au/pid/5325.htm
Lopez-Ridaura S., O. Masera, and M. Astier. 2002. Evaluating the sustainability of complex
socio-environmental systems. The MESMIS framework. Ecological Indicators 2: 135-
148.
Reganold, J.P., Wachter, J.M., 2016. Organic agriculture in the twenty-first century.
Tittonell, P., 2014. Ecological intensification of agriculturesustainable by nature. Current
Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 8, pp.53-61.
Week 2
Seufert, V. N. Ramankutty, J.A. Foley. 2012. Comparing the yields of organic and
conventional agriculture. Nature 485: 229-233. INCLUDING supplement
Week 3
Ferguson, R.S. and Lovell, S.T., 2014. Permaculture for agroecology: design, movement,
practice, and worldview. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 34(2),
pp.251-274.
Gliessman, S.R., 2007. Agroecology, The ecology of sustainable food systems. Chapter 19.
Week 4
Hatanaka, M., Bain, C. and Busch, L., 2005. Third-party certification in the global agrifood
system. Food policy, 30(3), pp.354-369.
Seljsen, R., Kristensen, H.L., Kretzschmar, U., Birlouez-Aragon, I., Paoletti, F., Lauridsen, C.,
Wyss, G.S., Busscher, N., Mengheri, E., Sinesio, F., Zanoli, R., 2016. How to understand
the complexity of product quality and the challenges in differentiating between
organically and conventionally grown productsexemplified by fresh and heat-
processed carrots (Daucus carota L.). Organic Agriculture, 6(1), pp.31-47.
Week 5
Lang, T. and Heasman, M., 2015. Food Wars: The global battle for mouths, minds and
markets. Routledge: Oxon. Chapter 2: The Food Wars Thesis pp 16-58.
Lockie, S., Halpin, D., Pearson, D., 2006. Understanding the market for organic food'. IN: P
Kristiansen, A Taji & J Reganold (eds) Organic agriculture : a global perspective, CSIRO,
Collingwood, Vic. pp. 245-258, http://www.publish.csiro.au/pid/5325.htm
6 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
General information on organic farming:
www.orgprints.org
European commission on organic farming:
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/organic/download-information_en
Food and Agricultural Organization information pertaining to organics:
http://www.fao.org/organicag/en/
FIBL:
o http://www.fibl.org/en.html
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o http://www.organic-world.net/index.html
Centre for environmental farming systems:
http://www.cefs.ncsu.edu/resources/guides/organicproductionguide.html
Dutch database for publications on research and developments of the organic sector
kept by the library of Wageningen UR:
http://www.biokennis.org/nl/biokennis/bioKennisbank.html
Louis Bolk Institute Centre for international advice and research on sustainable
agriculture, nutrition and health care: http://www.louisbolk.org/
The content of this syllabus is subject to change and might be updated during the course.
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