VI.P uses bird data to demonstrate the difference between organic and conventional farming

The starting point

Good practice, but without continuous evidence

VI.P brings together more than 1,700 apple growers across around 5,500 hectares in the Vinschgau valley. To halt biodiversity loss on agricultural land, certification standards such as GLOBALG.A.P.’s BioDiversity module increasingly require a growing share of land for biodiversity measures – up to 10% from 2030. If a comparable impact were achieved solely through the conventional approach of complete land set-aside, this would represent around 550 hectares for VI.P, worth €13.75–16.5 million per year.

The Hula solution

Continuous monitoring on the first sites

Together with Hula, VI.P is implementing automated biodiversity monitoring across an initial selection of organic and conventional orchards. The aim is to show that these areas, which remain in productive use, already deliver the required impact.

• BioT sensors deployed for acoustic monitoring
• Continuous data instead of annual sample surveys
• Direct comparison between organically and conventionally managed orchards

The Hula impact

The wryneck as an impartial witness

After just a few weeks of monitoring, a clear difference emerged. In the organic orchards, the sensors detected the wryneck, a bird endangered in the Alpine region that feeds almost exclusively on ground-dwelling ants and insects and does not excavate its own nesting cavities. It remained absent from conventionally managed land using crop protection products. The wryneck cannot be fooled. It appears only where the soil is truly alive.

This is exactly the evidence VI.P needs: a concrete, verifiable finding instead of a mere claim — a first building block towards showing that ecological farming practices can achieve the same impact that complete land set-aside would otherwise enforce.