A preview of the report ‘Bio in numbers 2022’ provides updated data and reflections on the trend of organic farming in Italy. The numbers from SINAB (National Information System on Organic Agriculture) were disclosed at the conference organized by ISMEA, ‘Appointment with organic: the organic agriculture of the future’, on 6.7.22 in Rome.
Organic in Italy, soils increase
The organic surface area Italian organic land increased by 4.4%, reaching nearly 2.2 million hectares at the end of 2021. The incidence of organic areas on the national UAA reached 17.4%, confirming it as the highest in the EU.
At this pace of growth, 2.7 million hectares could be reached by 2027, the last year of the CAP 2023-2027, and hit 3 million by 2030, a value close to Farm to Fork target of 25% organic area.
The incentives from the Regions
The expansion of crops organic farming is strongly influenced by regional policies under the agri-environmental measures provided by the RDP 2014-2020. With particular reference to the new calls for Measure 11 (support for conversion).
Campania (+55%), Tuscany (+25%) and Friuli-Venezia Giulia (+23%) are the areas where the UAA (utilized agricultural area) destined for organic farming grows at unprecedented rates. Sicily, however, while maintaining its primacy, lost more organic area in one year than Abruzzo counts.
Growing crops
Among the different crops organic farming grows especially in permanent crops (+3.5% overall), with different trends among varieties. Hazelnut groves (+12.5%) and vineyards (+9.2%) increase, organic apple orchards (-0.4%) and olive groves (+0.5%) remain stable, while citrus orchards decline (oranges -17.2%, lemons -0.8%).
They finally grow the areas dedicated to organic cereals (+2.8%), thanks above all to the boost from increased investments in durum and soft wheat, forage crops (-0.7%) and meadows and pastures (-0.8%).
Livestock, poultry soars
Organic livestock farming shows some significant critical issues for the development of the sector, with an incidence on the number of heads raised that overall remains below 10%. The stocks of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats show almost stable levels over the three-year period, while the poultry sector – especially broiler (meat chickens) and laying hens – records a marked positive trend, with an annual growth of about half a million heads.
What slows down the conversion of farms are the technical difficulties required for organic management. There is still little knowledge of the value of algae, microalgae and tannins (e.g. Algatan) to strengthen the animals' microbiota without the need for antibiotics. The reconversion of farming structures to more extensive models also entails costs that do not seem easy to amortize given that demand is still low.
More certified operators
Certified operators in organic grow by more than 5% compared to 2020, thanks to 4,413 new entries into the certification system which have brought the total number of organic producers, preparers and importers to 86,144. An increase of 78.5% over the last 10 years.
Aquaculture organic continues its evolution also in 2021, although absolute values remain modest: in fact, there are 69 certified companies (+12.8% compared to 2020), concentrated mainly in Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.
Organic consumption in Italy
Inflation weighs on organic consumption. In Italy, the loss of purchasing power inhibits consumer preferences and the return to the office, after the lockdown, forces them to eat outside the home, where organic food is a rare pearl.
After the growth of consumption of +9.5% in 2020, 2021 yields -4.6%. Data from the first 5 months of 2022 report a reduction of -1.9%.
Reliability However, the reliability of the data is undermined by the detection of only purchases at the GDO, considering that organic often travels well on short or very short supply chains.
The primacy of organic fruit and vegetables
Organic fruit and vegetables, fresh and processed, suffers an estimated sales decline of 8.7% for fruit and 7% for vegetables.
The sector accounts for 46.1% of the total organic market, while the non-organic market is only 19.2%. Consumers of organic foods, grown without pesticides, are conceptually more attentive to diet quality. They consume more fruits and vegetables and avoid ultra-processed foods (which instead represent a large share of the 'non-organic' food sector).
Milk and cheeses
The food group milk and cheeses has a significant incidence on the total organic market: 20.4%, compared to 13.2% for non-organic foods.
In 2021 sales decreased by -2.2% (compared to -4.1% for non-organic).
Meat and wine
Grow well organic wines (+5.7%) and meats (+13%). In particular, in red meat the organic share is stuck at 0.4%, a consequence of insufficient certified product supply. While in wines (1.6%) the priority destination of organic products, with higher added value, is towards the restaurant sector and foreign markets.
Full speed ahead!
‘Ismea data confirm Italy as a country strongly committed to organic. In this phase of agroecological transition, where organic plays a fundamental role, it is necessary to take further steps to affirm the organic method as a strategic opportunity to combat the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, as well as to increase the resilience of production systems against geopolitical crises.
We are at a decisive moment. Finally, the organic law has been approved, which includes fundamental initiatives for the development of the sector such as the establishment of organic districts, Made in Italy organic supply chains at a fair price for citizens and farmers, the Italian organic label, as well as investments in research, training, and innovation. Finally, we have important allocations to support organic farming, over 3 billion euros, but it is essential that these funds are spent in the best way to promote agroecological transition and to relaunchthe entire sector starting from domestic consumption. We must keep the bar high and roll up our sleeves to use this phase to grow all of Italian agriculture’, comments Maria Grazia Mammuccini, President of FederBio.
Professional journalist since January 1995, she has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and magazines (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). Author of journalistic investigations on food, she published the volume 'Reading labels to know what we eat'.
