This is stated in the report Organic Production 2020 prepared annually by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, which confirms that Spain is the first European country in terms of area and organic production and the third in the world behind Australia and Argentina, and that it is in a position to meet the The objective set in the European Green Pact of allocating 25% of agricultural land to organic production, also in line with the ecological transformation agenda of the Spanish Government itself.
The ecological agricultural area in data
- Most of the ecological area corresponded to permanent pastures, with more than 1.27 million hectares, followed by permanent crops (662,423 hectares) and arable crops (502,075 hectares).
- 45% of this area is in Andalusia, with more than one million hectares, followed by Castilla-La Mancha (17% and 422,864 hectares), and Catalonia, with 10.5% of the total and almost 257,000 hectares.
- The area of permanent organic crops increases (+9%), especially citrus (+19%, up to 19,843 hectares), banana trees and tropical fruits (+16%, up to 6,929 hectares), nuts (+16%, up to 196,940) hectares), and plants harvested green for animal feed (+ 10%). In total terms, the largest area of permanent crops corresponds to the olive grove (222,722 hectares), followed by nuts (196,940 hectares) and the vineyard (131,182 hectares).
- The eco cattle hut is maintained, as well as the bio aquaculture production.
- In addition, an increase in the number of operators is detected, exceeding 50,000 (+ 6.3%), especially in the later phases of the food chain, due to an increase in demand, and increasing in almost all categories: producers agrarian (almost 44,500 and +6%,), industrial establishments (+8%) and marketers (+8%). The average annual growth trend in the last 5 years has been 6% in farmers, 11% in industries and 20% in marketers of organic products.
- Regarding the eco-registered industrial establishments, almost 10,400, have grown by 8% and already reach 8,944 those related to plant production – the most numerous those for handling and preserving fruits and vegetables and those for making beverages – and to 1,451 those related to animal production, highlighting the meat and dairy industry.
Qualification
10% of the agricultural area in Spain is already organic
Description
The ecological agricultural area in Spain increased by 3.5% in 2020, already exceeding 2.4 million hectares, which confirms an average annual growth trend of the ecological area of 4.8% in the last five years and already places the useful agricultural area (UAA) dedicated to the organic one in 10%.
Author
Gastronomy Journal