The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) presented the annual overview of the organic farming sector at the BIOFACH 2018 trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany, on Wednesday 14 February. The study estimates that the global market for organic food rose to a new record of over €80 billion in 2016. The United States is the largest market with €38.9 billion, followed by Germany (€9.5 billion), France (€6.7 billion), and China (€5.9 billion).
Record area of organic farmland. A total of 57.8 million hectares were organically managed at the end of 2016, representing growth of 7.5 million hectares, or 15%, on 2015. This is the largest growth ever recorded. Australia is the country with the largest organic agricultural area (27.2 million hectares), followed by Argentina (3 million hectares), and China (2.3 million hectares).
Europe has 13.5 million hectares of organics farmland (23% of total area). In 2016, the EU recorded an 8.2% increase in land under organic farming, to 12.1 million hectares. Spain, with over 2 million hectares, remains the country with the largest area of organic farmland in Europe, followed by Italy (1.8 million hectares, up 300,000 hectares in 2016) and France (1.5 million hectares, up 200,000 hectares in 2016).
Also on 14 February, FiBL launched a European list of inputs authorised in organic farming. “Unlike organic food or feed, inputs for organic production are not subject to compulsory inspection and certification, which makes it difficult, if not impossible for an organic farmer to determine whether an input contains only authorized materials”, FiBL says. It has, therefore, listed close to 7,000 products (fertilisers and soil conditioners, plant protection products, feed products and products for food processing) found to comply with EU legislation.
The European Commission is currently carrying out a review of organic farming rules (see EUROPE 11943). The European Parliament still has to approve the agreement concluded on this issue with the Council of the EU. The text will then come into force in 2021.
The list of products authorised in organic farming is available at: http://www.inputs.eu (Original version in French)