Weibel Franco

Activity areas

Sabbatical (3 months) at Hort Research Institute at Havelock North, New Zealand to support different scientific and industrial activities to stimulate and improve organic apple production
Diploma of Agronomy Engineer (Polytechnical Highschool ETH Zuerich (Switzerland), 1986)
PhD (Polytechnical Highschool ETH Zuerich (Switzerland), 1994)
born 06 May 1959 in Basel, Switzerland

Chairman of the "European Group of Researchers in Organic Fruit Growing" (EUGROF) including 14 European countries
Member of the Swiss Expert Group for Organic Fruit Growing of Bio Suisse (the umbrella organization of the Swiss organic growers and traders) as co-ordinator and member of different working groups (quality, marketing, research & extension)
Organizer of a session and a workshop on organic fruit growing at the XXVIth int. Congress of The Int. Society of Horticultural Science ISHS in Toronto August 2002
Memberships in: the Swiss Society for Soil Science, the Swiss Society of Pomology (Fructus), the Int. Society of Horticultural Science ISHS (WG Plant Nutrition), the American Pomological Society, the German Society of Horticultural Science (DGG)

Schmid, A., F. Weibel and A. Häseli (2001a). Anbautechnik Bioost Teil 2: Pflege einer Niederstammanlage [The Management of a High Intensity Orchard; in German and French]. FiBL-Merkblatt , 16 pp.
Schmid, A., F. P. Weibel and A. Häseli (2001b). Anbautechnik Bioobst: Teil 1 Erstellung einer Niederstammanlage [Organic Fruit Production Technique: Part 1 The Planning and Planting; in German and French]. Merkblatt Forschungsinstitut für Biologischen Landbau, CH-5070 Frick , 20 pp.
Weibel, F. P., D. Gut and A. Schmid (2001). Weed control concepts in organic fruit production. Proceedings of 1st National Organic Tree Fruit Research Symposium. Gran Junction, Colorado. May 31 and June 1. C. Rom (ed), submitted.

Goerre, M., F. P. Weibel, M. Kellerhals and C. Gessler (2000). Incidence of powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha ) on scab resistant apple cultivars over different years and places. Integrated Control of Pome Fruit Diseases, POBC wprs Bulletin 23, 137-146.
Weibel, F. P. (2000). Agronomic challenges for organic fruit growers and the role of research and development. Proceedings of Organic Fruit - Opportunities & Challenges. Ashford, UK. October 16-17, 2000. D. Parry (ed), 36-45.
Weibel, F. P., C. Beyeler and C. Hauert (2000a). A strategy to prevent bitter pit incidence in organic apple growing by combining an early risk prediction on the basis of fruitlets analysis and specifically adapted soil management. Acta Horticulturae 512, 181-189.
Weibel, F. P., R. Bickel, S. Leuthold and T. Alföldi (2000b). Are organically grown apple tastier and healthier? A comparative field study using conventional and alternative methods to measure fruit quality. In: Acta Horticulturae 517, 417-427.
Weibel, F. P. and F. Grab (2000). Sustainable production needs sustainable marketing: Evaluation of a new marketing concept to introduce organically grown scab (Venturia inaequalis ) resistant apple varieties at the Swiss supermarket retailer Coop. Proceedings of the 13th Int. IFOAM Scientific Conference. Basel. 28-31 August 2000. Th. Alföldi, W. Lockeretz and U. Niggli (eds), 255-258.

Kellerhals, M., F. P. Weibel, P. Rusterholz, M. Goerre, A. Husistein, C. Rapillard, A. Haeseli and G. Weidmann (1997). Sortenempfehlungen für den biologischen Obstbau [Variety recommendations for Organic Fruit Growing]. Merkblatt FAW/FiBL , 24 pp.
Weibel, F. P. (1997). Enhancing calcium uptake in organic apple growing. Acta Horticulturae 448, 337-343.

Häseli, A. and F. P. Weibel (1996). Krankheits- und Schädlingsregulierung im biologischen Apfelanbau [Disease and Pest Control in Organic Apple Growing; in German and French]. Merkblatt Forschungsinstitut für Biologischen Landbau CH-5070 Frick 2nd revised Edition, 16 pp

Weibel, F. P. (1995). Bodenpflegeverfahren mit reduziertem Herbizideinsatz im Apfelanbau [Soil management methods with reduced herbicide input]. Diss. Nr. 11251, ETH Zürich, 162 pp.

Weibel, F. P. and K. Boersma (1994). An improved stem heat balance method using analog heat control. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 75, 191-208.
Weibel, F. P. and J. A. d. Vos (1994). Transpiration measurements on apple trees with an improved stem heat balance method. Plant and Soil 166, 203-219.

Weibel, F. P. and A. Häseli Biologischer Apfelanbau. In: Apfelanbau, [Organic Apple Growing; in German]. Eugen Ulmer Verlag (M. Fischer), Stuttgart., approx. 40 pp, submitted.
Weibel, F. P. and A. Häseli Organic Apple Production - With Emphasis on European Systems. In: The CABI Apple Book, D. C. Ferree und I. J. Warrington (eds), CABI Publishing, Wallingford Oxon., approx. 40 pp, submitted

Head of the Research Group Horticultural Sciences at FiBL. Responsibilities include

Responsible for the research quality, work efficiency and also the financial acquisition of the group. The topics of the group cover research in fruit, berry, vegetables, wheat, life cycle assessment and corresponding extension activities (e.g. production of technical leaflets, organization of training courses etc.)
Leadership of the research and advisory activities in fruit and berry growing of FiBL. Therefore initiating and co-ordinating the crop and problem oriented interdisciplinary research and extension activities between the different internal divisions but also with external partners (universities, extension offices, industry partners etc.).

Science based practical recommendations for the site and situation adapted use of herbicide free weed control methods. Development of a sensor device and software to measure accurately real-time sap flow (transpiration) of apple trees growing in the field. Science based recommendations for variety choice in organic fruit production. Creation, introduction and evaluation of a new marketing concept to introduce unknown (scab resistant) apple varieties in a Supermarket chain. Creation and testing of new weed control concepts (Sandwich System) for non-chemical weed control in tree strips. Author of a scientifically acknowledged study to compare conventional and organic apple quality including holistic methods (resulting also in method improvements).
Initiation of a national now smoothly co-operating interdisciplinary scientific and advisory network to solve flexibly and efficiently the various problems of organic fruit growing. Member of multinational research groups for EU-project grants. Initiator and presently chair of the "European Group of Researchers in Organic Fruit" EUGROF.
Creation of and assistance for seven regional rings of organic fruit growers in Switzerland to increase knowledge transfer and professionalization. Co-author and author of six technical leaflets on the basic techniques etc. of organic fruit growing. Frequent articles in grower magazines. Regularly courses (theory and practical training) for growers, university and professional students etc.

Consistent funding by industry and government agencies. Regular international invitations (including USA and Canada) as key note speaker on organic fruit growing or to carry out training courses. Regular refereeing is done for several international funding bodies.