ÖMKi On-farm Living Lab

Living Lab

Hungary, Research Institute Of Organic Agriculture
Website: https://biokutatas.hu

Vision & Objectives

ÖMKi On-Farm Living Lab – operated by the Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (ÖMKi) – aims to promote and improve the competitiveness of the organic agriculture and agroecology by conducting a variety of field trials, product, and technology tests co-designed and co-implemented with farmers in frame of a nationwide on-farm research network, to accelerate the transition toward sustainable agri-food systems in Hungary. 

Activities

  • a living lab ecosystem, where several living lab projects run simultaneously with different maturities focused on specific challenges of organic farming.
  • (1) crop diversification for food system stability where they conduct ancient cereal, soy bean and landrace tomato variety test and related product and technology development,
  • (2) adaptation of precision farming tools to organic agriculture, where remote sensing technology for plant protection and sensors for developing customized feed and disease prevention system are being tested and
  • (3) soil-building cultivation technologies where species-rich cover crop mixture is being developed for vineyards and orchards, herbicide-free reduced tillage cultivation methods and organic nutrient management techniques are experimented upon.
  • organises sectoral conferences, workshops, webinars, on-farm demonstrations and farm visit as well that provides space for peer-to-peer learning.
  • advocacy work for the better integration of organic agriculture into the national agricultural policies, and into national and EU level development of strategic action plans.

Production sector

  • Arable farming
  • Horticulture (vegetable, ornamental, fruit)
  • Animal husbandry
  • Food supply chain
  • Viticulture