Dr. Peer Urbatzka
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State organic plant cultivation research in Bavaria
Project-oriented learning in groups
In Witzenhausen, I first studied Organic Agriculture at the Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences and then went straight on to study for a Master's degree in International Ecological Agriculture. What do you remember about your time as a student? I started in the winter semester of 1997 and have to sum up: surprisingly little from the basic course. Of course the lecturers, fellow students and of course parties in the club and political involvement with ArcheGENoah or Anti-AKW. But the lectures themselves? Mmh, maybe we'd better change the subject. First and foremost, I'd like to mention the big project work (the plant conversion with Christian Schüler, organizing the conference with Holger Mittelstraß), but also the smaller project work in the undergraduate and Master's courses. They were great and I gained a lot from them. In particular, the last few weeks before the presentation to the conversion group and the conference were very exciting to see whether this would actually work out. In addition to the technical inputs (especially in crop production), I learned a lot about group dynamics, dealing with conflicts, joint ideas and achieving the goal together. And then standing up for them in discussions. So what stuck with me was that people are simply better off working together, even if it's not always easy. And to paraphrase Confucius: I not only understood what I did myself, I still know it to this day.
From experimental field HiWi to research manager
Parallel to my studies, I have worked as a student assistant since my specialization studies. At this time, the Hessian State Domain Frankenhausen also joined the University of Kassel. There I got to know, appreciate and love field trials. In addition to cereals and grain legumes, there were also trials on field vegetables and many on potatoes. Working in the fresh air with a high degree of precision. I liked that. This laid the foundation for my two diploma theses, my later dissertation and my current profession.
I wrote these three theses on the subject of winter peas. One or more field trials were set up for each of them. I learned to work independently, precisely and scientifically. I also learned how to organize myself, make arrangements with technical staff, etc..
Today I am head of the working group on organic crop production at the Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture. My work mainly involves the design, planning, evaluation and publication of field trials. I am responsible for a total of 70 to 80 trials every year. These are carried out by various trial teams throughout Bavaria. About half of the trials are state variety trials in organic farming, the other half are production trials. The majority of the trials are financed from our own funds, some also from third-party funds.
Looking back, as mentioned above, the project and diploma theses and the dissertation provided important impetus for my current work. Witzenhausen was a great place to study.
Comment
Saro Gerd Ratter: Very nice description of what is important in studies and in life: "that people are simply better together". I'm glad to know another ex-Witzenhäuser in Bavaria. Maybe we'll meet up sometime. Since this year, I have been working as an employee of the Schweisfurth Foundation together with the LfL on a research project on calves in organic dairy farming.