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NewsThe contents of this page are currently integrated into the FiBL maintained www.organic-world.net homepage. Due to an advanced technology, they can be archived and will thus be accessible in the long run. |
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Global Organic Market: Time for Organic Plus Strategies (June 12, 2009) The economic slowdown is impacting global organic food sales. After reporting high growth rates for over a decade, 2009 could be the first year of single-digit market growth says Organic Monitor in a recent press release. >>More
France: Market and land under organic management increase strongly in 2008
IFOAM EU Group comments declaration on the future Common Agricultural Policy (June 4, 2009) At a recent meeting, the Ministers for Agriculture of the European Union agreed on a common declaration for the future of the Common Agriculture Policy CAP. The IFOAM EU Groups response is that serious steps to tackle these challenges must follow in order to make the 2013 reform of the CAP a real success. >> More
IFOAM EU Group elects new president and executive Board (May 28, 2009) The European Union Group of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM, the IFOAM EU Group, has elected a new president and deputy president and has formed an executive board. The new president is Christopher Stopes from the UK, the new vice president Thomas Dosch from Germany. >> More
Organic conference in Tbilisi, Georgia (May 18, 2009) The '2nd International Conference on the Organic Sector
Development in Central/Eastern Europe and Central Asian Countries' will
take place in Tbilisi on September 10 and 11, 2009. A first conference
was held in Kiev/Ukraine in 2008. >>
More
International Congress on Organic Cotton in Interlaken, Switzerland
International conference on organic agriculture and environmental problems in North Cyprus
Spain: Organic land increases by 33 percent in 2008 For Spain a major growth of organic land is reported for 2008. According to the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture there are more than 1.3 million hectares of organic land. >> More
Netherlands: Country report updated (May 4, 2009) The country report about organic farming in the Netherlands has been updated by Biologica, which recently presented the figures for organic farming for 2008. The area under organic management is now 50435 hectares and has thus grown by 7.3 percent compared to 2007. >>More; >> Country report
Competition to create a new EU organic logo
Denmark: 10 percent increase of organic land in 2008(April 28, 2009) In Denmark the organically managed land went up by
10 percent during 2008. Currently more than 160'000 hectares or six
percent of the country's agricultural land are organic. Most of the
land is fully converted, 20'000 hectares are under conversion. The in-conversion
area grew by 90 percent. >> More Italy: Market grows by more than five percent in 2008(April 25, 2009) Italy's organic market continues to grow. In 2008,
the Italians spent 5.4 percent more on organic products compared to
the previous year. Growth was however slower than in 2007, when the
organic market grew by 10.2 percent. >>More EU environment related indicators 2009 published
According to DG Environment, in 2007, 4.1 percent of EU-27 farmland was organic, slightly up from 4.0 percent in 2006. Austria has the highest share of organic farming, followed by Latvia. Italy accounts for 16 percent of the total organic area in the EU-27. However, although there is a big difference between the EU-15 (4.6
percent) and the new member states (2.9 percent), organic farming has
seen rapid growth in the new member states in recent years, comparable
to that in EU-15 during the 1990s. >>More
Czech organic market: 40 percent growth in 2008(April 16, 2009) The turnover with organic food in the Czech Republic grew by 40 percent in 2008 and reached 1.8 billion Czech Crowns or 68 million Euros. Czech consumers thus spent more than 0.5 billion Czech Crowns more than in 2007, Green Marketing reports. >>More
UK: Organic market report released(April 9, 2009) The 2009 market report for the UK has now been released
by the Soil Association, showing that UK sales of organic products increased
overall by 1.7% in 2008 to over 2.1 billion Britsh Pounds, growing strongly
in the first six to nine months and then falling back in the face of
the economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009. >>More Switzerland: Strong growth of organics in 2008(March 27, 2009) On March 24, 2009, the Swiss organic umbrella organisation
Bio Suisse presented the latest figures on organic farming in Switzerland
(end 2008). According to these figures, the Swiss organic market grew
strongly in 2008 by 11.2 %. The number of farms remained constant
and is currently at 11.9% of all farms. >>
More
Bulgaria: Organic product marketIFOAM: New executive director (IFOAM. March 17, 2009) After a three-month worldwide search and review of dozens of qualified applicants, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM selected Markus Arbenz to serve as its next executive director. Arbenz, currently the Executive Director of IFOAM member Bio Suisse, will take up the leadership and management of operations and oversee the 15 professional staff on 1 August 2009.
Turkey: High potential for organic agriculture(March 3, 2009) According to recent report at the Fresh Plaza
homepage, Turkey with its immense experience in farming practices,
different climatic conditions and rich biodiversity possesses a
high potential for organic agriculture. Germany: Latest figures released(February 25, 2009) According to the German Federation of the Organic Food Industry BOELW, the organic area increased to more than 900'000 hectares in 2008. This constitutes an increase of 5.3 %. The number of farms is 19'824, an increase of 6 %. According to first estimates the organic market value was 5.8 billion Euros compared to 5.3 billion in 2006. The market share for organic products is now 3.5 %. These as well as numerous other data on organic agriculture in Germany and in Europe can be found in the BOELW-Broshure Zahlen, Daten Fakten: Die Bio-Branche 2009 that was published for BioFach 2009.
2009 edition of 'The World of Organic Agriculture'
The book also contains information on the global market for organic food, activities of UN organizations, the latest developments in organic certification, standards and regulations and insights into current status and emerging trends for organic agriculture by geographical region. The newly launched hoemapge www.organic-world.net offers background information as well as graphes and tables.
IFOAM EU Group launches dossier on the new organic regulation(February 23, 2009) On February 19, 2009, IFOAM EU Group launched its dossier on the new organic regulation. The dossier was published by the IFOAM EU Group as a very first stakeholder attempt to give a assessment of the regulation and its implications for the organic sector in Europe. The introduction of new EU legislation for organic food and farming - Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 and Regulation (EC) No 882/2008 (laying down detailed Implementing Rules) - has been in the attention of the organic sector for more than four years. Now that they are in place, their interpretation and practical implementation needs further work. IFOAM EU Group took up this task and produced the Dossier as a first step in this direction. The dossier offers a solid background introduction and collects interpretations from 18 experts in the field. The dossier is now available in English and German and can be be downloaded from the homepage oft the IFOAM EU group and will be published in at least four more languages in the spring of 2009.
Second Round Table of the Eastern European countries;Organic Agriculture and Legal Framework(December 08, 2008) The Second Round Table of the Eastern European countries ‘Organic Agriculture and Legal Framework’ was conducted in Kyiv, Ukraine on November 5 and 6, 2008. Participants of the public and private sector from eleven countries discussed the opportunities of organic agriculture. Furthermore Ukraine participants discussed the current draft of the organic agriculture law which is expected to be passed by the Parliament in 2009. In a closed workshop representatives of the Ministries exchanged their experience in the implementation of legal frameworks and explored the potential for further cooperation. It was agreed that further exchange between authorities and certification bodies on the regional level should be supported. The participants and speakers represented the public and private sector from Ukraine, Albania, Czech Republic, Macedonia FYROM, Moldavia, Montenegro, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland and the European Union. The Round Table was organized by FiBL and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine and supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the National Association of Agricultural Advisory Services of Ukraine. Italian Network for Research in Organic Farming RIRAB established(December 4, 2008) Recenty the Italian Network for Research in Organic Farming as a platform for researchers and stakeholders was founded. Several thematic working groups cover topics like biodiversity, energy, plant protection, quality, agricultural techniques and organic animal production. The Groups are co-ordinated by experts coming from the National Research Council (CNR), the Council for Research and experimentation in Agriculture (CRA), the Italian Association for Organic Agriculture (AIAB), the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment (ENEA), the National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition (INRAN), the Regional Agency for Development and Innovation in Agriculture of Tuscany (ARSIA); the Research Centre for Crop Production of Emilia Romagna Region (CRPV). RIRAB supports the newly formed European Technology Platform “Organics”.
Technology Research Platform ‘Organics’ launched
The research Technology Platform ‘Organics’, which was launched on December 2, 2008 with a public presentation in Brussels, outlines in its first major publication - the Organic Research Vision 2025 - the numerous ways in which organic food production can significantly contribute to solving these problems. The Vice Minister of the Czech Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Jiri Urban, expressed in an opening greeting the support of his ministry for the Platform. TP ‘Organics’ is also being supported by a growing number of organisations representing the industry, the research community and the civil society.
European Action Plans on Organic Food and Farming
Documents
Contact Fostering healthy food systems through organic agriculture – focus on the Nordic-Baltic region: Conference in August 2009 in Estonia The aim is to provide opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and further scientific co-operation in Nordic-Baltic region. The conference is open to all fields of research involved in organic agriculture. The Conference is organised by the Nordic Association of Agricultural Scientists NJF in collaboration with Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonian Organic Farming Foundation.
Italy: Latest figures(September 26, 2008). Recently, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture released the latest organic farming statistics. In 2007 there was a slight increase of the organic agricultural land (1'150'253 hectares hectares, +0.2%) whereas the number of operators decreased (-1.5%). Graph: Development of the number of organic operators and organic area. Source: SINAB (for Power Point Version click on graph) Most of the land s fully converted (more than 900'000 hectares). Italy continues to be the country with the largest organic area in Europe. The organic share of the agricultural land is 9%. New implementing rules on organic production published(September 18, 2008) The EU implementing rules on organic production have been published in the Official Journal L 250 of September 18, 2008. The full title is Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 to which it refers was published on June 28 in 2007. >> More about the EU regulation on organic farming
European Commission launches new promotional campaign for organic food and farming (July 26, 2008) The European Commission launched the European Union's new Organic Farming Campaign on July 26, 2008 at the Foire de Libramont agricultural fair in Belgium. Under the campaign slogan: “Organic farming. Good for nature, good for you”, the promotional campaign aims to inform consumers about the meaning and benefits of organic farming and food production. The campaign will focus on increasing consumer awareness and recognition of organic products, and especially on young people and children to carry the organic idea into the future. High interest in organic farming among European pupils and students
Guidelines for successful organic action plan development and evaluation welcomed in Brussels
ORGAPET is a collection of different information/data sources and evaluation tools, including participative techniques, quantitative assessments and methods to identify relevant indicators, which can be used selectively to meet the needs of a particular assessment of national or EU organic action plans. The publication 'Organic Action Plans Development, implementation and evaluation' is a practical manual for initiating, implementing and evaluating Action Plans. According to a FiBL press release, the manual and evaluation toolbox designed to support the European and national action plans for organic food and farming were presented to the meeting of the Standing Committee on Organic Farming in Brussels on 2nd July (see minutes) and discussed with the EU member state delegates and the European Commission’s Organic Farming Unit.
Proceedings of the second ISOFAR Conference
The first volume deals mainly with various aspects of organic crop production, which traditionally represent the largest share of all papers submitted to conferences on organic agriculture. The second volume gives insights into the increasing research activities on animal husbandry, socio-economics, interdisciplinary research projects. Furthermore it contains the papers for the five workshops of the Integrated project Quality Low Input Food which was held as part of the ISOFAR conference. Contact: Daniel Neuhoff, ISOFAR 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress sucessfully concluded
Among many other subevents, the 2nd conference of the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research ISOFAR took place. 200 papers and 160 posters were presented at this conference. The proceedings were published by ISOFAR and FiBL will be made available in the FiBL-Shop (printed and PDF). At the IFOAM General Assembly a new board was elected. The new IFOAM president is Catherine di Matteo, USA. Urs Niggli of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL (Switzerland) and Roberto Ugas of the University of La Molina (Peru) are vice-presidents.The general assembly voted for Korea as the venue for the next IFOAM Organic World Congress. Selected Links
ICROFS replaces and expands the scope of DARCOF
The centre is an expansion of the former research centre DARCOF, which the Danish Government in 2008 decided to give an international mandate and an international board. The main purpose of ICROFS is to initiate, coordinate and monitor high quality research of international standard in organic food and farming systems. Further, the aim of ICROFS is to stimulate international and transnational research and secure impact of the research results through support and dissemination in order to achieve optimum benefit from the allocated resources. DARCOF initiated and set up the Organic Eprints Archive which has become a very valuable source of information on organic farming. In the future, the archive will be maintained by ICROFS. New research documents high quality and safety of organic food
Organic farming systems hold the potential to produce food of high quality while at the same time considering food safety and environmental benefits. At the 4th QLIF Congress in Modena, scientists from the EU project QLIF (QualityLowInputFood) will present and critically evaluate the new and currently available evidence for differences in food quality and safety between foods from organic, low-input and conventional production systems. As an example of new project results, it was recently shown that grazing cows on organic farms in the UK produce milk that contains significantly higher levels of beneficial fatty acids, antioxidants and vitamins than their conventional counterparts. QLIF will contribute to the scientific part of the 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress with several interdisciplinary workshops. These will take place June 19 and 20, 2008. These workshops will aim to summarize and synthesize the results and data gained during the first four years of the QLIF project. In total, five workshops will be held on product quality, safety of foods, crop productivity, livestock productivity, resource efficiency. The event will be opend by Dr. Timothy Hall, European Commission, DG Research. Further info
Organic Farming in Belgium: Growth in 2007
A totally revised country report about organic farming in Belgium, provided by Petra Tas of Bioforum Vlaanderen is now available at Organic Europe.
OrganicXseeds is now the official database in Bulgaria Recently, the Bulgarian Government decided to adopt “organicXseeds”, set up by FiBL. OrganicXseeds is already recognized as the official database in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. This database, now complemented with a Cyrillic version, handles about 10,000 seed products and has more than 1,000 visitors a week. >>
FiBL press release © By Research Institute of Organic Agriculture
(FiBL), 2008. All rights reserved
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