Call for Papers Scope
Organic farming has the potential to increase the resilience of agricultural systems against climate fluctuations, reduces emissions and support biodiversity. Organic farms are already more often mixed crop-livestock farms. Arable organic farming is characterised by more diverse crop rotations, including perennial leys, grain legumes, a diversity of cereals and diverse field arrangements, compared to conventional farms. Organic farms with livestock have more animal species and genetic diversity, and manage diverse grassland, compared to conventional farms. However, there is still room and need for progress to adapt or transform these farms and thereby develop their resilience to upcoming global changes. This implies strengthening the implementation of agroecological principles in these farms, notably by increasing plant and livestock diversity.
Co-design is an emerging field of agricultural sciences aiming to transform farming and food systems by involving farmers and associated actors in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of candidate systems. Research in organic farming could use this potential more widely and systematically to explore solutions on commercial farms with farm managers and associated actors. There are inspiring, yet unpublished examples within specific case studies involving crop and livestock farms and other actors using co-design, on-farm experimentation, monitoring and evaluation. However, on-farm research is complex, especially when considering every stage of the co-design loop, it is difficult to describe and often not reported in regular research papers.
This Virtual Issue provides a platform for contributions from organic farming and will especially welcome articles describing the methods, process and results derived from co-design, on-farm experimentation, monitoring and evaluation within case studies. We call for submissions from practically relevant work in organic farming with a systems’ perspective aiming for integrated solutions considering crop and/or livestock production, from environmental, social or economic perspectives, and addressing the resilience of organic farming systems.
Guest Editors
Dr. Moritz Reckling, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Germany
Prof. Sabine Seidel, Institute of Organic Farming, BOKU University, Austria
Prof. Miriam Athmann, Organic Farming and Cropping Systems, University of Kassel, Germany
Dr. Guillaume Martin, French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE), France
Dr. Insa Kühling, Agronomy & Crop Science, Kiel University, Germany
Prof. Christine Watson, Scotland's Rural College, UK
Agronomy for Sustainable Development (ASD) is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal which publishes original experimental, empirical and theoretical research articles, review articles and meta-analyses leading to enhanced sustainability for agricultural and food systems. See the full aims and scope of ASD here.