If you haven’t registered yet for the Second International Conference on farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation (#OFE2023), you can do so here. We have already received over 70 abstracts from 25 countries and authors are currently preparing their presentations for the Dec. 5-7 2023 virtual conference. You can find more information on the event here.

The biennial conference European Seminar on Extension & Education was held in Toulouse - 10-13 July 2023. This 26th ESEE which gathers scholars, advisors, and educators, was titled Sustainability transitions of agriculture and the transformation of education and advisory services: convergence or divergence? A number of the themes had some relevance to OFE, these included Digitalization in agriculture, and the effects of digital technology on the practices, actors and organization of advice and education. Learning for innovation and resilience, specifically learning amongst the farming and advisory community including approaches, tools, and methodologies appropriate for collaborative, participative and transdisciplinary learning. A number of papers discussed farmer-led approaches to problem solving at the farm level. A book of extended abstracts will soon be available here.

Climate change has disrupted agricultural cycles and added to the risks faced by farmers globally. Floods, droughts, cyclones, wildfires, and other natural disasters have become more frequent and intense and cause massive destruction and losses. The pandemic-led restricted movement added to farmers’ problems. Crop insurance protects farmers against loss from natural calamities and other risks. However, insurance companies need reliable and timely information on crop area, production, and yield to insure farm operations, customize insurance products for crops and regions, and verify claims. Can OFE help solve this challenge created by climate change? Read more here.

With new digital technologies, scientists and farmers can work together to advance agronomy. By coupling formal agronomic research done by research institutes with change on the ground driven by farmers, the field as a whole can improve. Farmers around the world already experiment on their farms. Not only to support product development for a commercial provider or to accommodate a scientist’s experiment, but to acquire pragmatic knowledge to help manage their farms. This is called farmer-led on-farm experimentation. Read more here.