Biodynamic breeding research at Dottenfelderhof

Research & Breeding department (FZD) at Landbauschule Dottenfelderhof e.V. is involved in breeding research and the development of varieties of winter and spring wheat, winter rye, winter barley, oats, maize and various vegetable crops suitable for organic farming.

A special focus of the initiative is on on-farm research in the areas of plant and seed health, with a focus on seed-borne cereal diseases and breeding methods.

Research at Dottenfelderhof aims to link crop science with biodynamic practice and education.

There is a wide range of cooperation with other institutions such as the “Landesbetrieb für Landwirtschaft Hessen” (LLH), “Julius Kühn-Institut” (JKI) and the universities of Bonn, Gießen and Kassel, the “Louis Bolk Institute” (Netherlands) and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL Germany and Switzerland).

Organic and biodynamic plant breeding activities take place in cooperation with "Cultivari", "Getreidezüchtung Peter Kunz" and "Keyserlingk-Institut", and for vegetables within the framework of "Kultursaat".

Since 2016, the FZD has been the site for the official value tests of the “Bundessortenamt” (federal varieties office).

The numerous research projects offer students at the Dottenfelderhof Agricultural School the opportunity to take up experimental questions for their annual work and thus be introduced to a scientific approach to agriculture.

The funding of our research is unclear every year. There is no basic budget. The diverse work is mainly supported by various foundations, government research contracts as well as by individual donations.