Research Projects

BAB 086/25: Situation of farm women in Austria 2026

An analysis of the current working and living conditions Since the 1970s, studies on female farmers have been conducted in Austria every 10 years (1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2016), initiated by the Austrian Female Farmers Working Group (ARGE...

BAB 084/25: Sustainable innovative business models for the rural space NEXRUR

Rural areas and agriculture are facing major economic, social and environmental challenges in relation to climate change, the loss of biodiversity and water supply (see Long-term Vision for EU Rural Areas, Rural Pact, EU Rural Action Plan). There...

BAB 083/25: GRACE - Growing Climate Resilience in Remote rural Areas through Community Empowerment

Europe is warming faster than any other continent and the effects of climate change (CC) on the European continent, such as rising average temperatures, an increase in hot days, heavy precipitation or changes in precipitation patterns, will...

Osttirol Punktwolke — 05
2026
2026-05-29

BAB 048/21: Image matching of aerial imagery using graphics processors to create up-to-date surface models.

Each year, aerial imagery is captured for one third of Austria’s territory to produce up-to-date orthophotos. The cross-track and along-track overlap of these images enables the computation of high-resolution, three-dimensional surface data...

04

2026

2026-04-21

BAB 067/23: Circular Bioeconomy Market Uptake and Policy Support in Central Europe (BIOECO-UP)

The project "BIOECO-UP - Circular bioeconomy market uptake and policy support in Central Europe" (CE0100254) is supported by the Interreg Central Europe 2021-2027 programme with co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund. The...

BAB 066/23: Empowering Rural Communities to Act for Change - RURACTIVE (Horizon Europe Projekt)

Empowering rural communities to advocate for a just and sustainable transition in rural areas across Europe Around one third of EU citizens (two thirds in Austria) live in rural regions, but GDP per capita there is below average. The inequalities...

BAB 094/26: Conversations with Data Systems

Graph-Based Retrieval-Augmented Generation for SQL Querying of Longitudinal Databases Many scientific institutions rely on large, historically grown databases that span multiple decades, are distributed across several servers and contain...

BAB 087/26: Networking and knowledge transfer in the Global Agritourism Network

The Global Agritourism Network (GAN) is a worldwide network of agritourism stakeholders. Its aim is to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience on sustainable agritourism. With over 1,100 members from 115 countries (as of December...

BAB 093/26: Calculation of simplified cost options for GSP education providers

During the GSP 23-27 period, the European Commission is offering the option of billing services under the GSP using simplified cost options (VKO; also known as ‘unit costs’). Selected interventions (e.g. 78-01 business consulting) are already...

BAB 091/26: Wine online

The Austrian wine sector faces economic challenges due to changing socio-economic conditions (e.g. digitalisation, changes in consumer behaviour, availability of active substances in plant protection, climate change, labour availability). Changes...

BAB 092/26: Recalculation of standard costs for fruit and vegetable producer organizations

As part of the planned amendment of the GSP-AV and the GSP 2026, changes are also to be made in the area of sectoral interventions for the fruit and vegetable sector. In the course of this, the BMLUK and the AMA approached the BAB to calculate...

BAB 090/26: Fundamentals and infrastructure for model-based analyses

Various measures within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and beyond pursue objectives such as increasing the competitiveness of agricultural holdings or promoting sustainable development and the efficient management of...

BAB 089/26: Austrian Reporting Pilot study for Sustainability Agriculture (AREPSA)

Austria currently lacks methods and procedures for calculating sustainability indicators at the farm level that are consistent with established indicators (e.g. national greenhouse gas inventory, LGR) in aggregated form. Such methods would be...

BAB 088/26: New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) in Agriculture and Food Production

Relevance of the EU-NGT-Regulation for Austria In mid-2023, the European Commission presented a proposal for an EU regulation on plants and food and feed produced from them using new genomic techniques (NGT). The proposed regulation distinguishes...

BAB 085/25: Innovation Lab

At the BAB, ‘innovation’ and ‘digitalisation’ are already identified as cross-cutting issues. Nevertheless, there is still no central, institutionalised unit that systematically identifies, develops and tests new ideas, methods and...

BAB 076/25: Development of alpine pasture farming with a special focus on land abandonment

Alpine pasture farming plays a central role in the preservation of the traditional Austrian cultural landscape and, when used sustainably, provides important ecosystem services such as nature conservation, tourism and disaster protection. Despite...

BAB 077/25: Geoid calculation

Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) such as GPS, Galileo and GLONASS enable positioning and navigation tasks to be carried out with unprecedented efficiency. Thanks to their speed, real-time capability, wide-area availability and...

BAB 078/25: Climate change adaptation in Austrian arable farming

The agricultural sector plays a central role in the ongoing climate change. While agriculture continues to contribute significantly to the generation of greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants, it is also strongly affected by the...

BAB 079/25: Agricultural data portal - Central research portal for the publication of web maps, web services and...

The extensive data pool of the BML / BAB forms an important basis for scientific studies and projects. The growing availability of geodata as well as the extended competences and technical possibilities lead to a growing number of spatial...

BAB 080/25: The impact of agricultural and food policy on allocative efficiency with DEA and machine learning

The evaluation of policy measures requires the continuous development and improvement of methods and the development of methodological expertise. In particular, the methods of machine learning, a subgroup of artificial intelligence, have...

BAB 081/25: The impact of Natura 2000 on farm productivity and efficiency in Austria

Prof Dr Sebastian Lakner is Head of the Chair of Agricultural Economics at the University of Rostock. Prof Lakner has many years of research experience at the interface between agricultural and environmental policy and is the author of numerous...

BAB 082/25: Loss of active substances in pesticides

The work in this research project is part of the DAFNE project ‘Evaluation of the medium-term availability of plant protection product active substances’, in which BAB is responsible for work package 4a, described in more detail below. For...

BAB 075/24: Grassland conservation across European landscapes protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services with...

Grassland is a production factor for ruminant husbandry, but also a habitat for a wide range of plant and animal species and is valued for its aesthetic and cultural value. Nevertheless, ecologically important grassland areas are under threat in...

BAB 074/24: D-DOK: Research documentation departments

Currently, the data for research activities and public relations activities are collected in simple lists at the research departments and the RZL and activity reports are compiled manually. There are currently no standardized publication lists or...

BAB 073/24: Data modelling, management and consulting for the GAP Datapool

The European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) plays a central role in shaping agricultural policies that affect agriculture, the environment and rural communities. The evaluation of these policies is crucial to understand their...

BAB 072/24: Preparation, data management and evaluation of selected evaluation

topics of the Austrian CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 and the Rural Development Program 2014-2020 The evaluation of the implementation and impact of measures taken under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is particularly important. The evaluation...

BAB 069/24: Open Source Data Pipeline & Database for HyDaMS (Hydrographisches Daten Management System)

As part of the co-operation between the federal and provincial governments required by the Water Act, a monitoring network is operated to determine the water balance in Austria. This data is collected by the federal states and transferred to the...

02

2026

2026-02-20

BAB 068/24: Social Economy for Resilience, Inclusion and Good Life in Rural Areas (SERIGO)

Social vulnerability very easily leads to isolation and disempowerment. Both individuals and certain groups of people within a society are affected. The threat of social exclusion is particularly high in times of economic restructuring,...

BAB 064/23: A European Forum for Revitalisation of Marginalised Mountain Areas (COST Action) - MARGISTAR

The COST project MARGISTAR was approved in May 2022 (COST Action CA21125) and the networking of partners started with the Management Committee Meeting in November 2022. The COST Action is being carried out in 26 European participating countries...

BAB 062/22: Rural Sustainability Transitions through Integration of Knowledge for improved policy processes - RUSTIK

Horizon Europe Projekt The project has been tendered in the Horizon Europe Programme under the thematic area of promoting "resilient rural communities" under the title "Grasping rural diversity and strengthening evidence for tailored policies...

BAB 060/22: Converting Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) into Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN)

The Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) has been collecting economic data from agricultural holdings at European level for decades. Due to the increased focus of EU agricultural policy on sustainability, the FADN is to be expanded into a...

BAB 058/22: Feed Balance

With the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, weaknesses in the Austrian and global economic system became apparent. The COVID-19 Lessons learnt research project was therefore initiated with the aim of creating evidence to ensure that...

BAB 057/22: Processing capacities for oilseeds and protein crops in Austria

Even before the current Covid-19 pandemic, the cultivation of protein crops in Austria, their development potential and the associated security of supply have become the focus of numerous discussions and initiatives. Despite increased cultivation...

Mowing hay with a machine — 02
2026
2026-02-19

BAB 041/20: Standard working time requirements in Austrian agriculture

The factor "labor" plays a key role in agriculture in addition to other production factors such as the capital employed or land from a business management perspective. Labour input in agriculture is gradually decreasing, particularly as a result...

BAB 040/20: Biophysical processes of agricultural land use in Austria

modelling and analysis In times of climate change and increasingly limited resources, Austrian agriculture is caught between economic efficiency and ecologically sustainable production. In addition to general questions on forms of agricultural...

BAB 027/19: D-ESS - Time Recording Intranet-based Human Resource Management and Project Controlling

Development of a web-based, modular time recording and resource planning system at the participating departments. The system must be based on open source; the data, programming and database must be open source. The basic system must not incur any...

BAB 018/19: Organic Crop Yields

Organic farming has been an important part of agricultural production in Austria for many years. Around 25% of agricultural land is currently farmed organically. The BML is endeavouring to promote and further develop organic farming by focusing...

BAB 017/18: Agricultural Price Indices

At the beginning of 2016, responsibility for compiling the agricultural price indices (EU and national) was transferred to the Austrian Federal Statistical Office and the Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics and Mountain Farming. The...

BAB 013/05: Mapping Gender

Analysis and graphical presentation of gender-disaggregated data in the field of agriculture and rural areas Gender-adequate and gender-equitable statistics - gender statistics - should help to make gender-specific inequalities visible and...

BAB 012/05: Structuring and management of the data pool

Work on facilitating access to and use of the INVEKOS data has so far been carried out mainly by Department II/1 of the BML. The current scope of the data offered is documented in the form of a description of the tables available in the...

Cover of the Green Reports of the Ministry of Agriculture — 02
2026
2026-02-18

BAB 011/05: Preparation of the bases for the Green Report and FADN as well as its scientific further development

Section 16 of the Federal Offices Act (Bundesämtergesetz i.d.g.F.) stipulates that the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Mountain Farming is responsible for the preparation of the Green Report. The activities required for the preparation of the...

BAB 010/04: Library networking and information collecting in the range of the Austrian Federal Ministry of...

Since 2003, the BMLUK (Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regional Development and Water Management) has been operating an agricultural library network comprising various federal institutions, the University of Agricultural and...

Hay turning machine — 02
2026
2026-02-18

BAB 008/01: Comparative analyses of economic data in cash crop farming used in further education programmes

The ‘Arable Farming’ working group advisory service has been a successful nationwide training and advisory focus for many years. The top priority here is the higher qualification of farmers. Farm comparisons are an important part of the...

BAB 007/01: National report on Austrian pig producers - a comparative analysis of working group data

In recent years, the pig market has been characterised by volatile market prices, seasonal fluctuations, animal welfare debates, structural change and increasing regional concentration of production. The industry is facing rising production...

BAB 006/98: International Farm Comparison: IFCN, agri-benchmark

The increasing networking of markets requires more information, for example when assessing the competitiveness of farms and locations in different regions or with regard to the effects of changing economic, technological and political conditions...

BAB 005/96: Agricultural economic accounts

The introduction of the European System of Accounts (ESA95) required the compilation of the Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA) according to the specifications of the EUROSTAT manual. Objective The aim of the project is to provide or estimate...

BAB 004/87: Typology of Farms for the presentation of the economic performance of agriculture

The classification of agricultural and forestry holdings serves to group holdings together into categories that are as homogeneous as possible in terms of certain criteria. Only the greatest possible homogeneity of the holdings in a group ensures...

BAB 003/86: Economic analysis and consultancy relating to OECD and WTO

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) promotes economic policy cooperation (including statistical analyses, forecasts and strategy development) among its current 38 member states in Europe, North and South America and...

BAB 001/76: Econometric models of the Austrian pig and cattle market

Agricultural policy, administration and the EU institutions (EU Regulation 1165/2008) require information on the development of agricultural markets in order to fulfil their legal tasks. For this reason, the Federal Agency for Agricultural...

BAB 009/04: Development of a model system

Within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), various measures are being pursued to achieve objectives such as increasing the competitiveness of agricultural holdings or promoting sustainable development and efficient management...

BAB 065/23: Pure nutrient demand and pure nutrient usage in Austrian agriculture

Agrarmarkt Austria publishes quarterly sales figures for the pure nutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P2O5) and potash (K2O). LBG Österreich GmbH collects data on the annual application rates of pure nutrients from mineral fertilisers from farms...

Mountains and Forest — 05
2025
2025-05-20

BAB 051/22: Project ÖKO-SCHU-WA The economic relevance of protection forests in Austria

Project Management: Alexandra Freudenschuss, Peter Mayer (BWF - Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape) The WF project ÖKO-SCHU-WA was submitted by the BWF on 8.2.2022. In a sub-project, the BAB takes...

BAB 070/24: Transparency of agricultural value chains

The crises of the recent past (war in Ukraine, SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, inflation rates) have once again highlighted the need for information and data on material flows within the value chains of agricultural products and foodstuffs. Comprehensive...

schema bigdata processing — 02
2025
2025-02-07

BAB 049/21: Open Data Cube as data repository and analysis tool for drought monitoring

Development of analysis tools for recurring agricultural policy issues based on the example of drought monitoring A data cube (ODC) was set up at the Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics and Mountain Farming (BAB) in order to efficiently...

BAB 056/22: Applying an agri-food systems approach

Basic principles and an analysis using the example of conflicting goals in land use UN sustainability goals, the European Green Deal (with the "Farm to Fork" strategy, the biodiversity strategy for 2030) etc. are responses to social challenges....

BAB 047/21: 50 years of agricultural policy in Austria

The Ministry of Agriculture was founded in 1868 and has played a key role in the country's policy areas ever since. In 1967, the publication ‘100 Years of the Ministry of Agriculture’ was therefore published, providing an in-depth scientific...

BAB 020/19: The role of women in vivid rural areas

Unequal living conditions and a lack of prospects are causing young and better-educated people, including many young women, to leave their rural region of origin. The associated "brain drain" will become even more apparent in the coming years. In...

BAB 071/24: DBZ – webbased dashboard for operational analysis

A constantly growing amount of data with an increased need for availability and user-friendliness also poses growing challenges for the BAB. Numerous interfaces to the population (e.g. funding processing) and the various independent institutions...

BAB 033/20: Enhancing capacity of universities to initiate and participate in clusters development on innovation and...

Initial situation Participation in clusters enables higher education institutions to provide students at different performance levels with practical activities in various projects. In addition, the link to specific projects also creates prospects...

BAB 055/22: Study on the Austrian seed industry

Some parts of EU seed law date back to 1966 and need to be adapted to the changed framework conditions. After the legislative proposal drawn up by the European Commission (EC) to reform EU seed law was rejected by the European Parliament in 2014,...

BAB 032/19: APCC Special Report Land Use, Land Management and Climate Change

Land use is very closely linked to the climate. At a global level, land use is a key driver of climate change, but is also strongly influenced by changes in climatic conditions. Global land use is particularly associated with unprecedented...

Rural mountain area in Georgia — 02
2024
2024-02-21

BAB 030/19: Implementing LEADER in Mestia municipality for better livelihoods in high mountainous regions of Georgia

The research project BAB 030/19 "Implementing LEADER in Mestia municipality for better livelihoods in high mountainous regions of Georgia - GEO945" was completed in 2023. The Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics and Mountain Farming (BAB)...

Woman on tractor at field — 02
2024
2024-02-21

BAB 024/19: Female farm managers revisited

A panel survey on the development of farms and their households Austrian agriculture is subject to continuous change. These changes affect both farm activities and the farming family. According to statistical surveys, the proportion of female...

BAB 054/22: Work organisation of non-family seasonal workers in Austrian agriculture in the field of crop production

The structure of Austrian agriculture is characterised by small and medium-sized family farms. Non-family labour has always made a significant contribution to agricultural production (see e.g. Agricultural Structure Survey 2016 - Farm Structure;...

BF 156/17: ROBUST - Rural-Urban Outlooks: Unlocking Synergies

Objective Spatial development processes are increasingly characterised by exchange relationships between different regions. This also includes the different spatial types, so that urban-rural relationships are becoming increasingly important for...

BAB 052/22: Flat rates for fruit and vegetable producer organizations

Initial situation Within the framework of the Common Market Organisation, recognised producer organisations (POs) have received or will receive access to public funding within the framework of so-called "Operational Programmes" (OPs). Each...

AWI/184/18: CAP beyond 2020

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the EU's oldest and financially most important policies. Its main objectives are: i) to increase agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress, rationalisation and the best possible use...

BAB 059/22: Regional agricultural value chains

Robust Food Supply Chains in Austria The reliable supply of high-quality food to the Austrian population has become the focus of public debate in recent years, not least due to the large number of crises. As part of the cooperation project...

BAB 053/22: Sector analysis hemp

Hemp has been grown as a crop in Austria for centuries, but until now it has had the character of a niche crop. The demand for hemp products has been growing for several years, although the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent sharp rise in prices...

Community Radmer in Styria — 12
2023
2023-12-11

BAB 046/21: ERASMUS+ – Strengthening Social Capital in Rural Communities for Rural Development

The concept of social capital has been an important component of policy instruments for rural development and local governance for some time. Its importance has also been increasingly recognised in Turkey in recent years. The ERAS-MUS+ programme...

BAB 063/22: Communicating roots: co-learning to improve rural resilience and governance - CoROOTS (ERASMUS+ Projekt)

Co-learning methods to improve resilience management in rural areas The project was applied for on the initiative of the Prout Research Institute in Portugal in order to enable a scientific exchange of co-learning approaches developed in research...

Murau, Styria, mountains in the background — 11
2023
2023-11-17

BAB 039/20: MATILDE – Migration impact assessment

Final report MATILDE - Migration impact assessment to enhance Integration and Local Development in European rural and mountain regions (Social and economic impact assessment to enhance integration and local development in European rural and...

BAB 037/20: Rural youth and sustainability

Initial situation and objective In the project Youth in the Countryside and Sustainability, it was planned to investigate the attitudes towards ecological conditions of adolescents and young people in the countryside with regard to the Fridays...

BAB 028/19: Integrated Flood Risk Management in Mountain Areas

Assessing Sectoral Interdependencies, Conflicts and Options for Policy Coordination Initial situation Since 1980, Europe has been affected by around 700 damaging flood events, causing over 3,800 fatalities and economic damages of USD 187 billion...

People climbing in the Ötztal Alps — 11
2022
2022-11-23

BAB 025/19: The Mountaineering Villages Initiative as an implementation project of the Alpine Convention

The Mountaineering Villages Initiative was conceived by the Spatial Planning and Nature Conservation Department of the Austrian Alpine Association in 2008. The framework of the initiative is the Alpine Convention, whose main objective is...

Metal sculptures in a garden — 11
2022
2022-11-23

BAB 038/20: Cultural innovation in the agricultural context

Types and effects of art activities in rural areas on the individual, farm and regional level Initial situation The project aims to record art initiatives in an agricultural context, to present them on the basis of selected case studies and to...

Agricultural farm in Tyrol — 11
2022
2022-11-23

BAB 031/19: Reports on and simulation of revenues and costs subject to changes in prices and quantities

Initial situation In Austria there are currently market-based solutions (options, futures, other derivatives) for stabilising the producer prices of certain agricultural products. However, there are no market-based (e.g. insurance) or tax-based...

BAB 050/21: Soil Data Analysis - Financial Soil Estimation and Soil Mapping (BODAT)

In the BODAT project, possible applications of the two area-related soil data sets (financial soil valuation, soil map) of Austria were evaluated and possibilities of use for agricultural management and agricultural policy measures were...

BAB 061/22: Relief for agricultural und forestry sector within the framework of national emissions certificate trading

Within the framework of the eco-social tax reform of 2022, a gradual introduction of a national emission allowance trading system (nEHS) is planned, starting with an introductory phase from 1 July 2022. In connection with the introduction of the...

AWI 185/18EU: LIVERUR – The Living Lab concept in rural areas

Initial situation Against the background of the Europe 2020 Strategy (smart, sustainable, inclusive growth) and the challenges of migration from rural regions as well as a high average age of the rural population, concepts are sought to maintain...

mowed hay meadow with haystack lines — 04
2022
2022-04-19

BAB 035/20: Calculation of premiums of the agri-environmental program

Initial situation With the constitution of the expert groups as part of the design of the national CAP strategic plan, discussions on the realignment of the agri-environmental and climate measures (AUKM) also started in November 2019. Based on...

BAB 034/20: Evaluation of the national strategy for operational programs of fruit and vegetable producer organisations

Recognized producer organizations (POs) for fruit and vegetables can develop so-called "Operational Programs" (OP) within the framework of the common organization of agricultural markets, which are co-financed by the European Union. According to...

BAB 019/19: Development of the organic market in Austria and other selected regions

In recent years the share of organic farms in Austria has increased significantly. In addition to the traditionally high shares in grassland, there has recently also been a strong trend towards organic farming in arable farming and in permanent...

BAB 042/20: Simple Costs for Education Providers

Since the current programming period (2014-2020) of the Common Agricultural Policy, the European Commission offers the possibility to claim costs for projects in a simplified way (European Commission, 2015). When applied, eligible costs are...

04

2022

2022-04-05

Research Projects

Filter by ...

Author:

Year:

Search headlines: