Using agroecological zones to promote European collaboration in organic farming research.

Agro-ecological and other spatial information can be used to improve our understanding of organic farming research issues, inform the application of research from one area to another, and support collaboration and prioritisation within regional research programmes. Of the 25 organic farming research priorities identified by the IFOAM EU Group in 2004, 15 were related to regional differences in agroecological conditions. The other priorities were potentially affected by spatial differences in political, institutional and socio-economic conditions. In relation to agro-ecological data, the capacity to identify i) general agro-ecological areas and ii) areas with specific agro-ecological advantage or stress seems particularly useful. The use of a geographic information system (GIS) to integrate spatial data to identify and display such areas is illustrated with two examples.