Baurs to bring a team of experts from Switzerland to share knowledge on organic farming

A. Baur & Co. (Pvt.) Ltd., also known as Baurs, will be bringing down a team of renowned experts from Switzerland to study the country’s agriculture ecosystem with the purpose of providing scientific and practical solutions for organic farming.

Scheduled to arrive on the 01st of August, the 10-day visit will include meetings and diverse interactions with all key stakeholders, including visits to sites and facilities that influence organic agriculture. The expert team will also conduct first-hand training in composting and organic farming, the need of the hour.

Soon after Sri Lanka’s decision to ban chemical fertilizers and pesticides, Baurs established dialogue with some of the leading agriculture institutions in the world to gather insights and expertise on best practices and emerging technologies to successfully embrace this challenge.

Baurs teamed up with Switzerland-based Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (HAFL) of Bern University of Applied Sciences, both considered as world leaders in the research and development of organic agriculture. FiBL and HAFL will work together with other local and international organisations with domain knowledge in the subject matter.

Home to some of the leading institutes for organic agriculture, Switzerland has the 6th highest penetration of organic farming in the world, with 16.5% of agriculture land being organic farmland. It also has the second highest per capita consumption of organic food and ranks as the 7th largest organic market globally.

Prof. Dr. Christoph Studer is Professor of Natural Resources Management at HAFL and have worked with international agricultural research centers. Dr. Studer is engaged in various R&D projects and consultancy services. Dr. Gurbir S Bhullar is a Senior Scientist in Tropical Agroecosystems at HAFL, previously leading the thematic area of ‘Sustainable Agriculture in the Tropics’ at FiBL for eight years. Dr. Bhullar comes from a farming family with a wealth of experience in farming systems research in Asia and Africa.