According to the latest annual report on organic production in Spain carried out by Ecovalia, in 2019 the world devoted 72,285,656 hectares to organic production, i.e. 1.6% more than in the previous year. Of this total, Australia has almost 36 million hectares dedicated to these products, followed by Argentina with 3.67 million hectares, and Spain with 2.35 million. Spain is the leading producer of organic products by area in Europe, closely followed by France, with 2.4 million hectares, and Italy, with almost two million hectares.
It is a market that moves 106 billion euro worldwide. The US market accounts for 42% of the market, followed by Germany and France, both with 11%. The value it generates in Spain only accounts for 2% of the global value. Two things need to happen for Spain to increase its organic production. "The most important thing at the consumer level is to communicate what organic products are. Public institutions, both regional and national, have not held any campaign promoting this type of food in the last five years. This needs to change. We must promote the consumption of organic products so our consumption is equal to Europe's average," stated Alvaro Barrera, president of Ecovalia.
This is an issue that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (MAPA) is trying to change with a campaign that they recently launched to promote this type of consumption. At the production level, the criteria of the autonomous communities must be homogenized, as organic producers are currently suffocated attending each competent authority. "We must unify this and it is the task of the Ministry that we coordinate, homogenize, and standardize the application of a standard organic production regulation in Spain," he said.
Organic production has multiple benefits. Its benefits are usually seen in the environmental, health, or agricultural field, but the truth is that they are transversal. "This production benefits the economy because we have added value. It benefits people's health and it also benefits the environment because we are capturing more CO2. In addition, it also helps structure the territory and rural territory. And we create 30% more jobs," Barrera stated.
It is also a sustainable 360 degrees system. It is environmentally friendly. "We produce products without polluting aquifers, without salinizing soils, without damaging the soil for the future. In other words, these soils will continue to be fertile and useful over time." The scientific and technological advances and knowledge have allowed us to have a sustainable production achieving similar production levels to the conventional productions, he added. It is also sustainable because it offers environmental and economic development for the producer - farmer or rancher - who uses this production system, he said.
Source: abc.es