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The interest of organic farmers for adopting conservation agriculture practices is currently growing. But, there are few technical and scientific references available for organic farmers when they start applying conservation agriculture practices. The main objectives of this study are (1) to explore the diversity of crop management practices using conservation agriculture methods among European farmers, and (2) to identify main farmers’ strategies. We carried out a survey of 159 farmers located in 10 European countries with a questionnaire with closed-ended questions. Data were analysis with a multi factor analysis followed by clustering to identify groups of farmers that share the same type of spring and winter crop managements. Organic farmers in Europe, applying conservation agriculture practices, show very diverse crop management. The high diversity of crop management can be described by two main strategies: ‘low soil cover’ strategy and ‘soil conservation’ strategy. Distinct geographical distribution of both strategies suggests that applicability of conservation agriculture practices is strongly context oriented and thus related to environmental conditions.

Organic farming and demand for organic products is continually a growing trend all over the world (Willer et al., 2013). In Estonia the share of organic land is 15% of all agricultural land and the number of organic farmers is also growing (Vetemaa, Mikk 2013). Estonian organic food market is still in forming stage being affected by local organic farming development, marketing situation, economic situation and consumer attitudes. Organic processing has clearly not kept up with organic farming development and market demand so far. At the end of 2012 there were 158 certified processors, but most of them are just packaging or storing, not producing new products (Agricultural Board). Market share of organic food products is marginal (1,6% of total food market in 2011 according to official statistics (TNS Emor 2012a) and significant share of organic raw material is still processed as conventional food. There have been studies of organic farming topics but no knowledge about the challenges and perspectives of organic food processors. The main purpose of the study was to find out the current situation of organic processing companies in Estonia: what is the structure and characteristics of companies; how do they evaluate compliance with legal regulations and requirements related to organic processing; what are their main problems; how do they see the future of their business and organic market.

The aim of this research was to explain the effect of different green manures as winter cover crops and their combination with cattle manure on soil properties, weeds and crop yields in five-field crop rotation experiment of three different organic cropping systems.

Group members came from 12 European countries, six from new (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia) and six from old EU member states (Germany, Spain, Finland, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal). The aim of the work was to analyze the role of the scientists in a dialogue between them and the practitioners within the organic production sector. Another important aim was to find the best practice models of such dialogue as the examples to be followed by others. In order to reach this aim the survey with the scientists has been conducted by all project partners; every partner has conducted the survey with 10 selected scientists from own country. Only the scientists possessing PhD level and actively working in the organic sector could be selected. Key areas of the questionnaire were directed to the (A) person (gender, age, years of activity in teaching and/or researching), (B) number of projects, papers, trainings and interviews, (C) Examples of best practice models, (D) Estimations of potential collaboration and dialog between scientists and stakeholders, (E) Estimations about the success of personal activities with regard to the improvement of the four fields (farming, processing, trading & marketing), (F) Estimates of the improvement of communication and knowledge transfer from science to practice, (G) Estimates of potential threats for good communication and knowledge transfer among scientists and practitioners. Interviewees were finally asked for general remarks and comments. The results indicate that there is not a big difference between the scientists from the old EU member states and new EU member states in most of the analyzed areas. The main difference is that the scientists from the new EU member states provide more training sessions for practitioners outside their institutions compared to the researchers from the old EU member states. The results reveal also a relatively low level of the researchers’ activity in conducting the impleme

The aim of present study was to find out the influence of green manures as winter cover crops and their combination with composted cattle manure on metabolomic fingerprinting and microbiological quality of winter wheat in a crop rotation experiment in three organic systems (ORG 0, ORG 1, ORG 2) at the Estonian University of Life Sciences in 2012.

In 2007 EU Regulation (EC) 834/2007 introduced principles and criteria for organic food processing. These regulations have been analysed and discussed in several scientific publications and research project reports. Recently, organic food quality was described by principles, aspects and criteria. These principles from organic agriculture were verified and adapted for organic food processing. Different levels for evaluation were suggested. In another document, underlying paradigms and consumer perception of organic food were reviewed against functional food, resulting in identifying integral product identity as the underlying paradigm and a holistic quality view connected to naturalness as consumers' perception of organic food quality. In a European study, the quality concept was applied to the organic food chain, resulting in a problem, namely that clear principles and related criteria were missing to evaluate processing methods. Therefore the goal of this paper is to describe and discuss the topic of organic food processing to make it operational. A conceptual background for organic food processing is given by verifying the underlying paradigms and principles of organic farming and organic food as well as on organic processing. The proposed definition connects organic processing to related systems such as minimal, sustainable and careful, gentle processing, and describes clear principles and related criteria. Based on food examples, such as milk with different heat treatments, the concept and definitions were verified. Organic processing can be defined by clear paradigms and principles and evaluated according criteria from a multidimensional approach. Further work has to be done on developing indicators and parameters for assessment of organic food quality. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

In organic agriculture, soil fertility is essential for harvesting high quality crop yields. Plant nutrient cycles should be kept short and as closed as possible. Therefore, it is important to have sustainable growing systems that have rotations with appropriate crops and cover crops. In organic farming green manures and cattle manure are also used to ensure fertile and biologically active soil and to enhance biodiversity. Green manures offer supporting services, such as nutrient cycling, promotion of beneficial insects for pest control and soil formation. Also the catch crops on winter period are essential to reduce nutrient leaching (Stark and Porter, 2005). Growing system does not only influence the soil fertility, but through that also the quality parameters of crops (Olesen et al, 2009; Mäder et al, 2002). In recent years food metabolomics has been used as a novel method for `fingerprinting` or for ´profiling´ food samples (Hajšlova et al, 2011). `Fingerprinting` of food samples enables to perform comparative analyses aimed at detection of differences. ´Profiling´ is used for identification individual, differential sample components (both primary and secondary metabolites). Production system and interaction among the microbial population are important factors that also affect food safety and shelf life (Guerzoni et al., 1996). Among the microorganisms, some moulds, yeasts, bacteria, and viruses have both desirable and undesirable roles in our food. Most bacteria, moulds, and yeasts, because of their ability to grow in foods, can potentially cause food spoilage, however mere microbial presence does not reduce the quality of food, except in the case of some pathogens (Ray, 2005). The aim of present study was to investigate the influence of green manures as intercrops and these combined with composted cattle manure on microbiological quality and metabolomic fingerprinting of winter wheat in a crop rotation experiment in three organic systems at the Estonian Univer

The growth of organic farming in Estonia has been rapid in recent decades. To support this development various research projects have been conducted but still a lot of new knowledge is needed to improve the performance of organic sector. Organic agriculture is based on nutrient recycling and it uses a variety of practices that are valuable also for conventional farming in the future because resources of non-renewable synthetic fertilizers are limited and food should be produced more sustainably. Holistic perspective including ecological, economic and social aspects is needed for organic farming studies and future projects should target these issues more thoroughly.

Organic farming systems should be characterized by excellent soil fertility management to keep plant nutrient cycles short and as closed as possible. Therefore, it is extremely important to establish growing systems that have rotations with appropriate crops and intercrops to ensure fertile and biologically active soils, to enhance biodiversity and to provide high quality crop yields. Locally available organic fertilizers include green manures and animal manure. The influence of green manures as intercrops and these combined with composted cattle manure on soil properties, biodiversity indicators and crop yields was studied in a crop rotation experiment in three organic systems at the Estonian University of Life Sciences.

This report analyses the nutritional quality of organic and conventional food as well as the health effects of pesticide residues, nitrates, mycotoxins and artificial additives and gives an overview of animal and human experiments.

Animalwelfare is regarded as a basic parameter in organic beef– and milk production. It is important to focus on good animal welfare at all levels, also including calves. Experiences from former projects show that calf welfare often represents a problem in organic and conventional farms, depending on the farmer’s priorities, attitudes and knowledge. A CORE Organic project “Minimizing medicine use in organic dairy herds through animal health and welfare planning” (ANIPLAN) was initiated in 2008 and is a collaboration between seven European countries, including Norway. The aim of the Norwegian project group, lead by the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, was to develop a calf welfare assessment system, suitable for welfare advising and planning in organic milk production farms. The system focuses on animal based parameters, management, individual clinical score, colostrum intake and feeding system.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of different production systems (organic, conventional) on the quality of chicken eggs.