The DOK trial in Switzerland has been comparing conventional, organic and biodynamic cropping systems since 1978 and is the world’s most important long-term field trial comparing organic and conventional farming systems.
In the 1970s, organic farmers and researchers took the initiative to compare organic and conventional farming and set up the DOK trial. Over the decades, long-term research topics such as yield development, nutrient cycles and soil quality have been pursued. At the beginning of the trial, the aim was to clarify whether organic farming was even possible under natural weed and pest pressure and whether it could produce sufficient yields. Currently, the focus is particularly on biodiversity, climate impact and climate adaptation.
In this webinar, Else Buenemann-Koenig will be joining us from the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Switzerland to present findings from the DOK trials. Differences in nutrient and pesticide inputs, yields, nutrient use and soil quality will be presented, together with an overall assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the different systems.
For more background on the DOK trials and FiBL, go here.
Else Buenemann-Koenig is an expert in nutrient management and soil quality. For the first 15 years of her career, she focused on soil phosphorus dynamics, working at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and University of Adelaide, Australia. After joining the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in 2015, she led several projects on nitrogen flows and soil health. Since 2022, she is Head of the Department of Soil Sciences, which together with Agroscope shares the responsibility for the DOK trial.