Author Archives: Han Wiskerke

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About Han Wiskerke

Chair and Professor of Rural Sociology at Wageningen University (The Netherlands) Research domains: rural development, multifunctional agriculture, city-region food systems

In memoriam Henk Oostindie (English version)

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It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our beloved and greatly appreciated colleague, Henk Oostindie. Henk passed away on Thursday 21 May, just six weeks after his retirement from the Rural Sociology Group.

Henk was a rural sociologist from Wageningen through and through. Having graduated as an agrarian sociologist from Wageningen in 1990, he has, in fact, been affiliated with the Rural Sociology Group ever since. He began in the 1990s as a researcher on various farming styles projects and on the European CAMAR project, for which he also spent two years working and living in Portugal. From the turn of the century, he worked as a researcher (and later, de facto, as assistant professor) on mainly European research projects in the fields of rural development, multifunctional agriculture, short food supply chains and urban-rural relations. From time to time, these international projects were combined or alternated with teaching and with national projects, such as the ‘Dynamics and Robustness of Multifunctional Agriculture’ project, funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

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In memoriam Henk Oostindie (Nederlandse versie)

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Met veel verdriet delen wij u mee dat onze geliefde en zeer gewaardeerde collega, Henk Oostindie, is overleden op donderdag 21 mei, slechts zes weken na zijn pensionering bij de Leerstoelgroep Rurale Sociologie.

Henk was een Wageningse ruraal socioloog in hart en nieren. Afgestudeerd als agrarisch socioloog in Wageningen in 1990 is hij sindsdien eigenlijk altijd verbonden geweest aan de leerstoelgroep Rurale Sociologie. In de jaren ’90 begonnen als onderzoeker op diverse bedrijfstijlenprojecten en in het Europese CAMAR project, waarvoor hij ook twee jaar werkzaam en woonachtig was in Portugal. Vanaf de eeuwwisseling als onderzoeker (en later de facto als universitair docent) op voornamelijk Europese onderzoeksprojecten op het gebied van plattelandsontwikkeling, multifunctionele landbouw, korte voedselketens en stad-platteland relaties. Bij tijd en wijle werden die internationale projecten gecombineerd of afgewisseld met onderwijs en met landelijke projecten, zoals het door het Ministerie van LNV gefinancierde project ‘Dynamiek en Robuustheid van Multifunctionele Landbouw’.

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A short tribute to my highly esteemed (former) colleague Dirk Roep (one year after retirement)

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A year ago, my colleague Dirk Roep reached retirement age. He had organized a wonderful farewell party, where I was also supposed to give a speech to honour him, his work and his contribution to the Rural Sociology Group. Unfortunately, I had to cancel due to illness and was unable to give my speech. So now, a year later, on Dirk’s 68th birthday, I am writing down what I wanted to say a year ago at Dirk’s farewell party:

After 35 years of working for the Rural Sociology Group (and its predecessor, the Sociology Department) in various positions (and even more different employment contracts), the time has now come to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Of those 35 years, we have known each other for 32 years, we have been colleagues for roughly 28 years, and I have been the chair of the Rural Sociology Group (and thus formally your ‘manager/supervisor’) for 20 years.

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‘Let it flow: Navigating hydropower conflicts in southern Chile’ – PhD thesis defense by Maite Hernando Arrese

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On Monday 4 December 2023 at 16.00 CET Maite Hernando Arrese will publicly defend her PhD thesis entitled ‘Let it flow: Navigating hydropower conflicts in southern Chile’. The defense will take place in the Omnia Auditorium and will also be broadcasted live (a link will appear in the events box, in the upper left corner of the screen). The full thesis can be read online or downloaded (usually from the first day after the PhD defense onwards) from the repository of Wageningen University PhD theses or by clicking on the DOI link.

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The history of Dutch potato breeding (1888-2018): from hobby to industry

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On the 15th of May 2019 Jan van Loon defended his PhD thesis about the history of Dutch potato breeding. This thesis was written in Dutch (see thesis cover below). Over the past two years we (Jan and his supervisors) have been working on a paper in English, summarizing the main findings of his thesis (which is over 400 pages). This was quite a challenging endeavor, but we are pleased that the paper was accepted by Potato Research and was published online this week as an open access article.

Abstract of the paper
The Netherlands has a world-leading position in potato breeding, but little is known about the factors that led to this success. This paper analyses the factors that have influenced the development of potato breeding in the Netherlands. This study is based on research of the grey and scientific literature and interviews with various representatives from the Dutch potato breeding sector. We distinguish four periods: (i) Before 1888, no potato breeding in the Netherlands existed whereas in other countries first crosses occurred. (ii) 1888–1940, more individuals started breeding out of interest and hobby to overcome the commonly observed degeneration of potato. (iii) 1940–1967 the emergence of a corporate set up of breeding by private companies collaborating with small breeders. (iv) 1967–present, towards full-fledged breeding industry supported by the new Seeds and Planting Materials Act (ZPW) in 1967 including the breeders’ rights. Many factors including cultural practices, diseases, and market that determine the strategy of breeding have been analyzed. The development is most of all ‘crop driven’ to maintain the level of production. But it was also ‘export driven’ leading to the development of an export-oriented seed potato sector. The conclusion is that three elements were dominant in the development of a strong potato breeding sector: (1) the broad cooperation among all players in the potato chain, (2) the design of the institutional infrastructure, and (3) the remuneration of the breeding work through legislation regarding plant breeders’ rights. The study ends with an outlook on future trends, one of them leading from an open to a more closed business culture.