"You would be able to tell it was organic from afar"

Interview with Knut Schmidtke

As Director of Research, Extension & Innovation, Knut Schmidtke has been part of the three-member directorate and Chairperson of the Executive Board of FiBL Switzerland since April 2020. Before that, he was a professor of organic agriculture at the University of Applied Sciences in Dresden, and from 2015 to 2020 also prorector for research and development.

Before your time at FiBL – what was your perception of the institute?

For me, FiBL has always been the largest and most competent research and advisory institution in organic agriculture with a global reach. I visited FiBL as a young student in the mid-eighties. At that time, I was very impressed by the way in which research on and with organic agriculture was carried out here in Switzerland, and how research and advisory services worked hand in hand. 

50 years of FiBL. Almost 300 employees. A new campus. A major performance mandate from the federal government. What is happening at FiBL Switzerland right now?

We have not only entered a new era in terms of space. On the basis of the four-year performance agreement with the FOAG (Swiss Federal State for Agriculture, editor's note) we can also devote ourselves to the new challenges in agriculture. We have expanded the area of research and, in particular, have also been able to expand our advisory services.

Which new challenges do you mean?

Plants and animals are suffering from global warming. On the one hand, we have to develop adapted production systems. On the other hand, we want to do everything we can to advance agriculture towards climate neutrality. Now, for the first time, FiBL can also devote itself more comprehensively to grassland management. After all, two-thirds of Switzerland's agricultural land and 60 percent of the world's agricultural land is grassland. Crops must also become more resilient to drought and heat. Furthermore, we also need to produce more chicken and pig feed from grassland. This way we can mitigate the competition between animal feed and food production.

Regarding climate issues, where does FiBL stand within the Swiss and international research?

FiBL has been working on climate issues for almost twelve years, creating a number of results. Previously it was about climate-friendly management, now this has shifted to climate-neutral management. However, our research expertise in organic agriculture is generally held in high regard, both nationally and internationally. Accordingly, our collaboration in research networks is often in high demand.

What else does FiBL’s research focus on?

A third essential focus will be the transformation of food systems. What needs to be done in Swiss agriculture and in the entire food chain to meet the trend towards more plant-based food? And more than ever, we need to create food security for the world's population while at the same time respecting planetary boundaries, through organic farming on a worldwide scale.

So, a more intensive organic production?

Of course, organic farming does not have to reach the maximum yields of conventional farming. These cannot be achieved without environmental damage. They are only necessary because of the high losses that occur in the process, one fifth of global crop production goes into energy production and 50 to 70 percent into the feed trough. Moreover, we have by no means exhausted the possibilities of achieving higher yields through biodiversity. Even in organic farming, we are still predominantly growing pure stands.

The epitome of a clean crop. Is that a bad thing?

The future belongs to biodiversity in arable land. That is another priority of FiBL. Other plant species besides crops should also be given room to grow and flower. Moving away from planting pure stands, and instead promoting diversification on the field would drastically improve the situation for certain insects.

What prevents organic farms from achieving this?

We come from a classical production, where a sugar beet field is a sugar beet field, and a potato field a potato field. In the future, organic should mean always cultivating several crops in combination. At FiBL, we need to research how best to achieve this with which species. It would greatly change the appearance of an organically managed field. You would be able to tell it was organic from afar.

Does FiBL put issues on the back burner?

For example, basic advisory services on organic conversion, since the cantons cover this very well. We see it as our task to provide innovative advice, i.e. to bring new research findings into practice in a clever way. To develop research based on practical experience is just as important. Another topic that FiBL focuses on are the degrees of freedom.

Degrees of freedom?

We are pursuing this new strategy in animal husbandry. What freedoms can we allow the animals in order to come closer to animal husbandry that is appropriate to the species? For example, cows should be able to choose for themselves which feed they eat at which time of day. Not everything is economically possible. However, we want to expand the boundaries for more freedom for the animals wherever we can.

Research also provides politicians with knowledge. What if they decide against their better knowledge? Is science then allowed to become political?

The researchers themselves can become politically active as private persons at any time. As an institution, we should be cautious. Take, as an example, the new genetic engineering methods: FiBL can compile reasons for and against them.

The risk to humans and the environment is unknown. So, the precautionary principle applies. This would mean a "no" to the new genetic technologies, at least for the time being, wouldn’t it?

The open questions can certainly not all be answered within the next ten years. I am of course aware of the concern that FiBL should take a clearer political stance on this issue. We tend to leave it to the interest groups such as Bio Suisse or, internationally, IFOAM to adopt a clear position. FiBL is more likely to make a statement, in the sense of: If one does not want any new genetic engineering in organic farming, these and other science-based reasons support that claim.

What else would you like to say?

The fact that FiBL has been so successful for 50 years and will continue to be successful in the future is primarily due to the people who want to work here and who have contributed to date. That is FiBL's strength and has been from the beginning. I am grateful to all of them. I am also grateful for the 50 years of work in the FiBL Foundation Council, for the partnership with the several hundred practical farms and many research institutions, for the trust of politicians, the many donors and all the people who choose organic on a daily basis in agriculture, in processing and trade and in stores.

Interview: Stephanie Fuchs

This is a shortened and slightly adapted version of an interview that appeared in the Bioaktuell magazine 1/23. This interview (in German, French and Italian) and a long version of the interview in German are available as pdf (see below).

Further informationen

Download

• Interview "Man sähe das Bio von Weitem" published in Bioaktuell magazine 1/23 (in German) (172.6 KB)
• Long version of the interview "Man sähe das Bio von Weitem" (in German) (324.9 KB)
• Interview "On verrait alors le bio de loin" published in Bioactualités magazine 1/23 (in French) (237.3 KB)
• Interview "Bio si riconosce da lontano" published in Bioattualità magazine 1/23 (in Italian) (194.4 KB)