Reducing pesticides without organic certification? : Potentials and limits of an intermediate form of agricultural production

A growing number of farmer cooperatives cultivate crops without chemical pesticides, but also without organic certification. How does this intermediate form of agriculture between conventional and organic production function? What are the outcomes of this production form on cropland biodiversity? Which policy instruments can facilitate the success of such production forms? We address these research questions using original data collected in the AgroBioDiv project from the farmers’ cooperative “KraichgauKorn” based in the German State of Baden-Württemberg