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The SysCom Program compares different agricultural production systems (primarily organic and conventional) in three tropical countries (Kenya, India, and Bolivia). This report aims to provide a synthesis of the findings of 12 years of research in the three countries in a way that is easily comprehensible by specialists and non-specialist alike. It focuses on productivity, profitability, soil fertility, and other aspects of system performance such as product quality, biodiversity, resource use efficiency, and agroecosystem resilience. The report is divided into eight main sections: The first section, conclusions, addresses the findings with regards to the question, “What is the contribution of organic agriculture to sustainable development?”. This section is dedicated to the readers who are only interested in a short comprehensive overview of the results. The second section, the introduction, explains the program’s background and objectives. The following sections present the main findings on productivity, profitability, soil fertility, and other aspects of system performance. These sections start with a summary of the key findings, which are then explained in more detail on the concrete research results. They are designed for readers interested in an in-depth understanding of the facts behind inferences as well as the methodology. At the end of each subsection, references to the relevant scientific publications are provided for further reading. Technical jargon has been kept to a minimum and wherever possible explanations are provided in footnotes. The seventh section includes policy recommendations and offers sound advice for policy development. Finally, the annexes provide more information about the SysCom program, including the programs’ phases, a detailed description of the different sites and the local contexts, as well as SysCom’s capacity building and dissemination efforts.

At presesnt, about 33 million ha of cotton are grown worldwide, which gives about 82 million tons of seed cotton (FAO 2021) only 0,5 % is the share of organic cotton.

Langzeitvergleich von biologischen und konventionellen Anbausystemen in der Baumwollfruchtfolge.

Forty years of research in the DOK trial resulted in more than 120 peer-reviewed publications investigating effects of farming systems on a wide range of scientific disciplines within agronomic and environmental research. It is the oldest still existing system comparison trial comparing organic and conventional agricultural practice worldwide. The field trial has been subject to applied and fundamental research but the presentation of findings from the DOK trial is beyond the scope of this chapter. Instead, we give detailed insights into the history of implementation of the DOK trial and show how the evolution of agricultural practices influenced the management practices applied in the experiment. From a scientific point of view, changing experimental treatments in the course of an experiment is a challenging task. Yet, following a system approach and the development of organic and conventional farming necessitate a periodical reevaluation of practices implemented within the treatments to mirror changes in large-scale farming. To reflect on these developments and to present in-depth insight on the history of management of the DOK trial, we review and discuss changes implemented in management practice during the course of the last 40 years.