Organic ag sector in Italy grows by 20%
According to Sistema d’Informazione Nazionale sull’Agricoltura Biologica, Italy's organisation for organic agriculture information, the number of farms cultivated through organic methods in Italy reached 1.79 million in 2016, compared to 1.5 million in 2015.
Last year, more than 300,000 hectares of land were converted to organic farming, while the number of operators rose to 72,154 (+20.3%).
Italy’s agriculture minister, Maurizio Martina, said that the Italian agricultural model is “one of the most sustainable in Europe".
Among the crops registering the highest level of growth in the organic sector are vegetables (+48.9%), cereals (+32.6%), grapes (+23.8%) and olives (+23.7%).
source: esmmagazine.com
