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Organic farming

Organic farming - clearly defined

The general legal framework for organic agricultural production methods is provided by Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 and Regulation (EC) No 1804/99.

Clearly legally binding rules for

plant and livestock production (allowed plant protection products, fertilisers, soil conditioners, feedingstuffs, feed materials, compound feedingstuffs, feed additives, cleaning and disinfecting products for livestock buildings and installations, products for pest and
disease control of livestock buildings and installations,
seed and vegetative propagating material, not use of
genetically modified organisms etc. - see Annex I and II),
Processing,
Ispection system - see Annex III,
Labelling of products,
Imports from third countries and
Free movement within the Community

are formulated. That`s what makes the difference to other forms of agricultural production. Consumers gain security on how products of organic farming are produced and processed and how this is controlled.

Aims of organic farming

Organic farming is a holistic production method that makes sparing use of resources and is based on enhancement of soil fertility, optimal nutrient recycling, thrifty use of external energy sources, animal welfare and ban on synthetic pesticides and fertilisers. The emphasis is on the inherent productivity of the farm.

Husbandry keeping is related to available agricultural soil for manure spreading, which is defined as a maximum of 170 kg Nitrogen per hectare.

Comparison shows clear preferences

Environmental benefits of organic farming

A literature review of more than 400 studies (STOLZE et al., 2000) showed that organic farming has far more positive environmental effects than conventional farming (see infobox- literature).

The majority of indicators investigated show that organic farming performs better than conventional farming systems with respect to environmental and resource use effects.

When evaluated on a per hectare scale, organic farming indeed can be defined as the farming system which has less detrimental effects on the environment and to resource use than conventional farming systems (STOLZE et al., 2000).

Umweltbundesamt, Schwarzl nach BMLFUW, 2006

Development of organic farms 1980-2005

Development in Austria

Organic farming in Austria has grown rapidly since the early 1990s; towards the end of the 1990s, the increase in additional organic farms levelled off and stabilised around 20,000 organic farms, which is still the number for 2005.

But in recent years (2000-2005) the organically agricultural used area has slightly increased. This is mainly due to growing in organic arable land, which has more than doubled from 2000-2005 to 142,000 ha.

With organic farms occupying 15% of the country’s agricultural area in the year 2005 (without alpine pastures and meadows), Austria is one of the leaders in Europe.