€ 210,000 for research into innovation and knowledge transfer in agriculture

The primary sector, including sugar beet and starch potato production in particular, is about to face radical changes in the European Union’s agriculture policy. Agricultural entrepreneurs will thus have to adapt by improving their business operation and production with knowledge. The Faculty’s new department of Innovation Management and Strategy (and in particular the current Business Development/Knowledge Management cluster) will support farmers in the Northern Netherlands and Niedersachsen in this process.

A research grant of € 210,000 has been made available by the Ministry, LTO Nederland (the Dutch Organization for Agriculture and Horticulture), SNN (the Northern Netherlands Assembly) and the cooperative Cosun.

Three different projects will be started in the areas of innovation, knowledge transfer and improvement of the use of decision-supporting systems. The idea for this initiative originates from a number of agricultural entrepreneurs from LTO, HPA (the Central Arable Farming Marketing Board), the agricultural cooperatives Cosun and AVEBE and the department of Innovation Management and Strategy. The projects follow on from the experience and external contacts that Prof. René Jorna and the researchers Laura Maruster, Niels Faber and Irmgard Starmann of the department have gained in recent years in the area of sustainable innovation in arable farming.