The EU Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies have set a goal of 25% organically farmed area in 2030. This relies on sufficient nitrogen to sustain productivity, while emissions of nitrogen are minimized to prevent climate and environmental impacts. Increased recycling of nitrogen at field, farm and system levels is key to this transition, and aligns well with the principle of ecology of organic farming. This special session focuses on recent advances in research, innovation, and development of policies that contribute to solve the challenges of nitrogen supply and management in organic farming systems. We welcome diverse contributions reaching from microbial processes to crops, animals and systems to improve recycling, increase availability and reduce losses of nitrogen.

In this session, we will:

• Share new science and advance our understanding of challenges of nitrogen in organic farming

• Engage in oral and poster presentations

• Explore solutions and perspectives through multi-stakeholder discussion

Christine Watson is Professor of Agricultural Systems at SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College, www.sruc.ac.uk/). She also holds a Guest Professorship at SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences). Christine’s research focuses on the management of micro and macro nutrients in organic and conventional agri-food systems at a range of scales from local to continental. She has a particular interest in crop diversification and the agronomic and environmental benefits this can bring in stocked and stockless farming systems.  Christine was President of the European Society for Agronomy (2014/2016), and President of the Association of Applied Biologists (2017/18). Christine currently chairs the UK Expert Group on Organic Production.

During the XXII N Workshop 2024, she will give a keynote with the title “What we want, when we want it - how do we fix the Nitrogen supply challenge in organic farming?” for the Special Session on Organic Farming.

Keynote speaker: Christine Watson (SRUC)

Lead 1: Hanne Lakkenborg Kristensen (Aarhus University, Denmark)

Lead 2: Jakob Sehested (International Centre for Research in Organic Farming Systems ICROFS, Denmark)

Lead 3: Stefaan De Neve (Ghent University)