There are still people who don't want to eat organic carrots and this is why multiple carrot growers still grow the conventional variety. Yet organic agriculture is popular in Denmark. According to the latest figures of the Økologisk Landsforening 42 percent of all carrots in the vegetable departments of Danish stores are organic.
In one of the regions where most carrots are grown - the dyked in Lammefjord in Odsgerred, near Holbæk - organic carrots still have a long way to go. In the Lammefjord 800 million carrots are harvested annually, of which only 48 million are organic at the moment. The first organic carrots appeared here last year, and so far they are worth only six percent of the turnover. Boje Skytte is one of the farmers who is focusing on organic agriculture. Yet he still has to grow conventional products. "There are still customers who like to buy the conventional vegetables. This is why only 25 percent of our products are organic, and the rest are still conventional," he says.
The organic carrots are on the rise. This is why Landbrug & Fødevarer and the Økologisk Landsforening are calling for conventional growers to follow the consumers. "Now that almost half of the carrots sold are organic, it is a clear signal from the consumer. This is relevant in my view - including for the growers who want to serve that market with the productions of Lammefjords carrots," says director of organic products Kirsten Lund Jensen. This reality is also reason for Lammefjord to move with this development.
Source: www.dr.dk