Abstract
Limited data regarding the resources and methods used by organic fruit growers to learn about production practices are available, even though this information is crucial to improving the efficacy of knowledge transfer. Therefore, a survey to gain information from knowledge networks dealing with organic fruit production about their structural organisation, tasks and methods of communication was carried out in twenty-one countries from Europe and the Mediterranean basin. A total of 56 networks representing about 42,500 professionals were identified as a result of the survey. The vast majority of them were only active at the regional or national level and were composed of farmers, advisors and researchers. About 3/4 of the networks were developing improved strategies for agronomic practices and about half of them were also involved in different knowledge-transfer activities between their members. Personal contact was the most used method to exchange and disseminate information within the networks as well as to elaborate improved strategies. The findings were analysed in view of the methods and practices commonly used to share both explicit (scientific) and implicit (practical) knowledge among practitioners. It was concluded that knowledge networks play an important role in the development of more resilient organic cropping systems, frequently making organic fruit growers the drivers of innovation. Networking for knowledge exchange was considered a process that encourages the active involvement of farmers in experimentation and innovation applying a method of knowledge sharing that is rooted in the very foundation of organic philosophy. Some recommendations and future research were suggested to further foster the development and functioning of networks for knowledge exchange.
Highlights
This situation is paralleled by EU policy promoting the expansion of organic production: it should achieve 25% of the total agricultural production by 2030 in order to comply with both Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategies, supporting the targets set by the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) goals [2]
Even though the EU is the leading region for the production of organic fruits in the world with 1.6 million hectares, and the land dedicated to organic temperate fruit production reached about 121 thousand hectares, which covers about 13% of organic production [1], to achieve these targets, the organic fruit growers need to increase their supply and, more critically, the number of organic producers in the EU needs to increase at a faster rate
In order to standardise the selection of relevant networks, the network was defined as “a group composed by one or more kinds of stakeholders that are exchanging information on a regular basis about issues related to organic fruit production, either formally or informally”
Summary
The European market demand for organic products recorded in 2019 a growth rate of 8%, almost doubling in the last decade, to reach a value of retail sales of about EUR. Knowledge transfer has been successfully applied among professionals involved in organic production To overcome these bottlenecks and improve knowledge transfer, linking research with practice, in the area of sustainable agriculture and organic farming, has become the key feature in both the scientific environment and official rural and research policies. Informal farmers’ knowledge exchange and learning have been analysed under different contexts and agricultural systems [22,23], including organic farming systems [24,25], always showing that this method has a considerable potential to promote the adoption of sustainable practices typical of organic production. The collective construction of knowledge and innovation in organic agriculture is still quite unexplored [26] To this aim, a survey was carried out in the framework of an EUfunded project (BIOFRUITNET https://biofruitnet.eu/, accessed on 28 December 2021) to identify knowledge networks present in Europe and neighbouring countries and analyse the types of information transfer. The discussion is highlighting the features and aspects that should be taken into consideration in developing policies and activities to improve the technical level of organic fruit farmers
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