Organic farming and research in Italy
Organic acreage in Italy is the widest among the European countries (about 1 million
hectares) and it is, at present, in a rising phase; at the same time Italy is second in the world for number
of organic growers (about 50.000 organic farms).
This data have been released by the National Institute of Agricultural Economics (INEA) and by the
German Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL) during the conference 'Development of knowledge and
organic agriculture: New frontiers for the organic sector', that took place, last april 16, at the Agri-food
Department of the National Research Council (CNR), in Rome. The conference was promoted by the same department
with the participation of the Agricultural Research and Experimentation Council (CRA) and the Italian Association
for Organic Agriculture (AIAB), a body that promote the biologic sector in Italy.
The speakers have highlighted the great interest of Italian farmers for a more sustainable agriculture.
The conference was also an opportunity for people from research, production and consume to meet in a same place.
Although the statistical data seem to be satisfactory, more has to do for the operators to strenghten the economic
trend of this sector, being its economic turnover only 2% of agri-food market (about 1,5 billions of euros; source
Coldiretti-Ispo).
Some sectors of organic market show a growing trend: for example in 1996 only 69 school purchased organic
foods for their student lunches. In 2007 they reach the number of 683. We have a similar trend for corporate lunch
services. (Bio Bank Report).
“Scientific research about organic agriculture, takes advantage, in Italy, of only a little rate of the financial
resources for agricultural and agri-food research and this could be the Achilles' heel of this sector, as explains the
CNR speaker; he said also it is necessary, in Italy, to turn competitive organic farms and cheaper its products and
similarly to improve the scientific knowledge about organic agriculture.
In this direction can be useful to support a more targetted interdisciplinary research encouraging farmers
to take advantage from the most recent technological novelties. For this reason CNR and CRA are increasing
collaborations with farmers.
During the conference the speakers have provided also information about some technical improvements developed
by the CNR and the CRA research in the organic agriculture, food quality, phytopathogical and environmental sectors.
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Source: Italian National Research Council (CNR), april, 16, 2008.