Science - March 2, 2006
‘No gnomes in Wageningen’
The research project Bioveem is being carried out according to scientific principles. This is the official response of the President of the Executive Board Aalt Dijkhuizen to the article with the headline ‘For gnomes, call Wageningen’, which appeared in the national newspaper de Volkskrant on Saturday 25 February.
Dr Ina Pinxterhuis, the Bioveem project leader was not available for comment. She has agreed with the Department of Communication that she will not make any more announcements about her research until the results are published, which should be later this year.
In a press release entitled ‘No gnomes in Wageningen’ Aalt Dijkhuizen makes it clear that the author of the article unjustly creates the impression that the research project is not scientific. ‘One of the questions from livestock farmers relates to whether or not the energy balance on a farm is relevant. Wageningen UR was requested to examine this by carrying out a scientific experiment. If there are significant differences between the returns of livestock farmers who engage in what are regarded by some as ‘woolly’ practices and the returns of more farmers that use more conventional methods, this could be a reason to conduct further research on the causes underlying these differences.’ / KV