Press Release 126/04 - October 25, 2004

Ecological agricultural sciences at the University of Kassel in Witzenhausen have rounded out their profile

Kassel. With four newly filled professorships, the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences at the University of Kassel has further rounded out its unique profile: for eight years now, it has offered a two-tier full degree program in "Ecological Agriculture" and, for two years, an English-language master's degree program in "International Ecological Agriculture." With three relevant courses of study and 20 professorships, the department in Witzenhausen is the undisputed leader among universities in Europe and worldwide in terms of research and teaching in the field of organic farming. With the new or reoccupied professorships "Agricultural Engineering" (Prof. Dr. Oliver Hensel), "Grassland Ecology and Forage Production" (Prof. Dr. Michael Wachendorf), "Business Administration" (Prof. Dr. Detlev Möller) and "Organic Crop Production and Agricultural Ecosystem Research in the Tropics and Subtropics" (Prof. Dr. Andreas Bürkert), the Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences at the University of Kassel in Witzenhausen is starting the winter semester 2004/05. In addition, negotiations to fill the endowed professorship in Biodynamic Agriculture are to be concluded in the current winter semester.

The department has thus largely completed its profile focus on organic agriculture, which was decided in 1996. This profile is confirmed by the steadily increasing number of new enrollments of around 200 per year and the enormous increase in third-party funding, which more than quadrupled from 2001 to 2003.

Cooperation with the University of Göttingen
With the support of the University Presidents of Göttingen and Kassel and the state governments of Lower Saxony and Hesse, negotiations are currently underway between the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Göttingen and the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences at the University of Kassel with the aim of establishing close cooperation between the agricultural departments of the two universities.

The first tangible result is the joint appointment of a professorship for livestock science in the tropics and subtropics - others are to follow. In addition, the formation of a jointly supported tropical center is intended. This cross-border focus is intended to create a competence center for agricultural sciences with an enormous range of profiles in the heart of Germany.