Ireland has one of the lowest shares of organic farming in the EU despite a 55 per cent increase in production rates across the continent, a study has found.
Organic farming aims to create sustainable food production avoiding conventional methods such as chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Organic farmers rely on crop rotations, animal and green manures, biofertilisers and mechanical cultivation.
According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, the share of organic farming was below 5 per cent in eight countries during 2020. The lowest rates were recorded in Ireland and Malta, which both had shares of less than 2 per cent.
Organic agricultural production covered 14.7 million hectares across the EU in 2020 compared with 9.5 million in 2012, an increase of