The Hungarian Reserach Institute of Organic Agriculture – ÖMKi’s arable land, horticultural, animal husbandry and agri-informatics teams work across the country every field season, from spring to autumn. ÖMKi’s On-farm network is a system of innovative experiments on organic farms in Hungary, based on the active participation of farmers: even the topics of simple experiments in real-life situations are developed together with farmers. Thanks to the testimonies of our staff and partners, we get an insight into how researchers go about their daily work during the field season!
In July, our On-farm partners started harvesting flaked cereals after bread wheat.

The combine harvester sets out to harvest emmer at Csoroszlya Farm, Szár

The beautiful grey heads of Grauer emmer

Einkorn harvest at Füzesgyarmat, at Mihály Földi’s organic farm
We harvested the small plots and seed multiplications at Martonvár, and the grains of the ÖMKi small plot wheat experiment in Szár, which includes bread wheat, spelt, emmer, einkorn, durum, and durum-emmer crossing lines.



Our Agro IT team provides IT solutions to support arable land surveys: physical samples are collected from the locations of sample points selected by drone survey. From the sampling points, which were selected with high precision, our staff collected the field samples with care and love from the circles of one square metre, in accordance with the mesoparcel sampling method, despite the dust, the high temperatures and the scorching sunshine. Cleaning and threshing then took place, followed by weighing of the grains and further analysis of the contents using an infrared grain analyser.

Sample collection starts as soon as the first sample points are set

In preparation for sampling, the sorted bags are taken to the sample points

At the end of sampling, we collect the bags from the sample points
In the middle of the grazing season, our animal husbandry research team carried out regular observations in the grazing areas of the farmers participating in the study. During the field visits (cenological surveys), changes in vegetation in the different areas were observed and recorded, and a grassland management plan was drawn up following the analyses. Ruminant data from sensors mounted on the animals are also taken into account when planning the grazing regime. The combined analysis of different sensor and botanical data will help our researchers and farmers to use grasslands in new ways.

Visiting and mapping the pasture area

Scanning the area, selecting typical points for the survey

Measurement and selection of quadrats

To assess the quality of the grassland, the colleagues return several times a season to the area designated for the grassland survey, and precisely locate the fixed position of the quadrats using a satellite-based GPS positioning device.

Photo documentation of the surveyed areas is also produced

The grassland tests are carried out under the expert guidance of Dr. Szilárd Szentes

Drone images will also be taken of the areas to be investigated

Bird’s-eye view of the grassland surveyed

The recorded quadrats are marked on the NDVI image
Our animal husbandry team, in cooperation with GpsCom Ltd, has installed GPS sensors to monitor the cattle grazing on the Horhos Valley Estate. The American-made sensors are making their “debut” in Hungary on this farm, thus starting the testing of the system under domestic conditions. By knowing the daily movements of the animals, we can map the preferred or unpreferred places of the herd, get information about the use of the area, and check if the herd is in the right place at the right time. In the long term, a precision-based approach to grazing will contribute to sustainable grassland management.

The Horhos Valley Organic Farm, where every animal has a name

Herding the cows to install the equipment

A good owner treats their animals with care!

Displaying the movements of the herd in the pasture in the GPS ear tag software

The Globalstar-GSatRancher cow with GPS ear tag
Our horticultural team tested four commercially available, commonly used in Hungarian cultivation or new and promising plant growth promoters with a horticultural test crop (peppers) in pots in different physical soil conditions. Despite the high temperatures, the condition of the plants and the yield were recorded every week. Week after week, they were pleased to see that the plants were growing nicely.

There is a plant in every second culture dish, so we can investigate how much the emergence of pellets is influenced by the presence of roots.

The ripe peppers are harvested one container at a time.

Most plants produce a rich harvest.

Plants are assessed for height, stem diameter, symptoms of deficiency, and the presence of disease symptoms and pests.

The pepeprs are further examined one by one – weight, length, shoulder width, disease symptoms and pests are recorded.
The testing of legume crops is carried out in collaboration with a number of partners. AgriKulti reported on the fun of visiting the field and horticultural farmers involved in the trial, and that the biggest challenge so far has been the hectic weather conditions, but that steps towards predictability are beginning to emerge. In a report published on Magház blog, our on-farm partner Kati Dalmer shared her experiences of growing and using Tassi landscape variety purple field beans in the kitchen.

1.1 ha of Donia chickpeas in Borjád. (Source: AgriKulti)

The biggest challenge for chickpeas, apart from seed procurement, is weed control (Source: AgriKulti)

Broad beans at Vándorkovász Porta, Négyes. Experience so far has shown that overwintering broad beans are much stronger and more resistant than early spring ones. (Source: AgriKulti)

A handful of Tassi landscape beans. (Source: Dalmer Kati)

The beans hatched quickly and at a high rate, and then started to run nicely up our “wide ladder”-like movable stand. (Source: Dalmer Kati)

The beans steamed in a pan. (Source: Kati Dalmer)
The Research and Development Centre of the Eszterházy Károly Catholic University helped us to carry out remote sensing measurements of our small plot vegetable production experiment in Terény, in the area of the Magasvölgy Organic Farm and in Magfalva, on the outskirts of the village of Gomba.

Our peat replacement study again involved nearly 50 enthusiastic volunteers who tested the development of tomato seedlings in leaf compost and, as a control, in their own established seedling media for six weeks. In many common commercially available propagation media, the plants grew poorly, further confirming that our experiment is looking for a nature-friendly solution to an important problem.



This season, the arable land team has started millet variety trials in two locations (Füzesgyarmat and Karcag). In both locations, 4 millet varieties are being tested (Maxi, Lovászpatonai red seed, GK Alba and a population of the Kornberger variety). There are several factors that have contributed to the growing popularity of the variety in our country. Millet is less susceptible to diseases and has a short growing season (90-120 days depending on the variety), so it can be sown in second crops or in areas with poor water management and prone to waterlogging, even in June, and it is also suitable for organic farming. Its easy digestibility, high fibre and protein content not only make it suitable for animal feed, but it is also widely used by people on a gluten-free diet. Our millet varieties have thrived despite an extremely hot growing season with very little rainfall.



Our colleagues carried out worm counts in 4 different locations during October. At each site, they dug 25×25 cm pits and then hand-mortared the excavated soil, looking for worms. They counted the number of individuals and later identified them to species. Worms prefer good, undisturbed soils, so they can be excellent indicators of the soil health of a particular research site.



ÖMKi’s On-farm research would not be possible without the many partners who help with the scientific work, from designing, setting up and recording experiments to processing the data. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the work of our research institute this year!