KAZALCI OKOLJA

Key message
Good

The response of agricultural holdings to the agricultural policy and favourable market opportunities, which support the spreading of organic farming has been growing every year. The area intended for organic farming has increased in the period 1999–2020 from 2,400 ha to 52,078 ha, or from 0.5% to 10.8% of the total utilised agricultural area. The structure of agricultural land with organic farming is strongly dominated by grassland (80% in 2020), which shows that livestock farms more frequently convert to organic farming.


This indicator shows the area of land included in the organic farming and its share in the total utilized agricultural area in Slovenia. It covers all areas included in the control of organic farming, i.e. those areas where organic farming has already been carried out, and the areas in the process of converting to organic farming. The indicator does not provide direct information on the environmental efficiency of the measure but points to the state of and response of the agricultural holdings to the agricultural policy and changing social trends that support such production.

The indicator shows the agricultural area (in ha) in organic farming and its share in the total utilized agricultural area, the structure of organic farming by type of agricultural land use, the share of organic farming by the Slovenian municipalities and comparison of the extent of the organic farming in Slovenia with the other EU Member countries.


Charts

Figure KM08-1: Organic farming area in Slovenia
Sources:

SORS, 2021

Show data
Organic farming area, total [ha] Permanent grassland [ha] Arable land [ha] Of which vegetables and strawberries [ha] Permanent crops [ha] of which Orchards [ha] Vineyards [ha] Olive growes [ha] Utilised agricultural area (UAA), total [ha] Share of organic farming area in total UAA [%]
1999 2400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 498591 0.50
2000 5446 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 508960 1.10
2001 10828 10000 721 41 107 55 52 0 509624 2.10
2002 13828 12800 908 58 120 65 55 0 505462 2.70
2003 20018 18500 1368 68 150 100 50 0 509709 3.90
2004 23018.93 20908 1721.74 81.77 389.19 335.62 49.09 4.48 490520 4.70
2005 23169.14 21669.79 1066 141.57 433.35 359.57 67.22 6.56 508759 4.60
2006 26830.70 24458.25 1683.85 96.49 688.60 536.19 125.02 27.39 490318 5.50
2007 29322.02 25796.49 2651.89 107.80 873.64 668.64 184 21 498466 5.90
2008 29836.41 26309.02 2608.18 101.22 919.21 712.31 190.68 16.22 492424 6.10
2009 29388.42 25432.39 2922.50 124.20 1033.53 780.28 203.30 49.95 468496 6.30
2010 30688.52 26189.72 3329.69 122.39 1169.11 793.14 296.94 76.60 482653 6.40
2011 32148.74 27531.13 3383.65 151.07 1233.96 855.10 287.24 91.62 458195 7
2012 35100.67 29814.13 3787.22 183.56 1499.32 988.37 324.10 184.53 479653 7.30
2013 38664.49 32527.06 4383.45 232.60 1753.98 1144.31 401.34 208.33 478888 8.10
2014 41237.21 34595.80 4731.66 214.42 1909.75 1260.08 421.81 226.17 482218.40 8.60
2015 42188.49 34653.27 5359.09 281 2176.13 1466.10 495.16 214.11 476862 8.80
2016 43578.76 35494.22 5700.48 267.01 2384.06 1607.95 536.06 240.05 477671 9.10
2017 46222.35 37606.65 5942.30 227.09 2673.40 1869.74 561.11 242.55 481415 9.60
2018 47848.28 38700.45 6270.03 245.24 2877.80 1962.10 657.04 258.66 477296 10
2019 49638.28 40027.51 6520.37 307.53 3090.40 2106.09 705.79 278.27 479822 10.35
2020 52078.47 41903.26 6894.89 319.03 3280 2231.99 766.42 281.35 483863 10.76
Figure KM08-2: The structure of organic farming area by type of agricultural land use in the period 2001–2020
Sources:

SORS, 2021

Show data
Permanent grassland [%] Arable land [%] Permanent crops [%] Permanent grassland [ha] Arable land [ha] Permanent crops [ha] Organic farming area, total [ha]
2001 92.35 6.66 0.99 10000 721 107 10828
2002 92.57 6.57 0.87 12800 908 120 13828
2003 92.42 6.83 0.75 18500 1368 150 20018
2004 90.83 7.48 1.69 20908 1721.74 389.19 23018.93
2005 93.53 4.60 1.87 21669.79 1066 433.35 23169.14
2006 91.16 6.28 2.57 24458.25 1683.85 688.60 26830.70
2007 87.98 9.04 2.98 25796.49 2651.89 873.64 29322.02
2008 88.18 8.74 3.08 26309.02 2608.18 919.21 29836.41
2009 86.54 9.94 3.52 25432.39 2922.50 1033.53 29388.42
2010 85.34 10.85 3.81 26189.72 3329.69 1169.11 30688.52
2011 85.64 10.52 3.84 27531.13 3383.65 1233.96 32148.74
2012 84.94 10.79 4.27 29814.13 3787.22 1499.32 35100.67
2013 84.13 11.34 4.54 32527.06 4383.45 1753.98 38664.49
2014 83.89 11.47 4.63 34595.80 4731.66 1909.75 41237.21
2015 82.14 12.70 5.16 34653.27 5359.09 2176.13 42188.49
2016 81.45 13.08 5.47 35494.22 5700.48 2384.06 43578.76
2017 81.36 12.86 5.78 37606.65 5942.30 2673.40 46222.35
2018 80.88 13.10 6.01 38700.45 6270.03 2877.80 47848.28
2019 80.64 13.14 6.23 40027.51 6520.37 3090.40 49638.28
2020 80.46 13.24 6.30 41903.26 6894.89 3280.32 52078.47
Figure KM08-3: Share of organic farming in total utilised agricultural area in EU–27
Sources:

Eurostat, 2021

Show data
2005[%] 2009[%] 2010[%] 2012[%] 2013[%] 2014[%] 2015[%] 2016[%] 2017[%] 2018[%] 2019[%] 2005[ha] 2009[ha] 2010[ha] 2012[ha] 2013[ha] 2014[ha] 2015[ha] 2016[ha] 2017[ha] 2018[ha] 2019[ha]
Malta 0.10 0.50 0.20 0.32 0.06 0.29 0.25 0.21 0.35 0.41 0.47 14 26 24 37 7 34 30 24 41 47 55
Ireland 0.80 1.10 1.10 1.16 1.20 1.16 1.65 1.72 1.66 2.63 1.63 34912 47864 47864 52793 53812 51871 73037 76701 74336 118699 73952
Bulgaria 0.20 0.20 0.50 0.76 1.13 0.96 2.37 3.20 2.72 2.56 2.34 0 12321 25648 39138 56287 47914 118552 160620 136618 128839 117779
United Kingdom 3.50 4.20 4.10 3.41 3.24 3.02 2.89 2.82 2.85 2.64 2.62 608952 721726 699638 590011 558718 521475 495929 490205 497742 457378 459275
Romania 0.70 1.20 1.30 2.10 2.06 2.09 1.77 1.67 1.93 2.43 2.86 0 168288 182706 288261 286896 289252 245924 226309 258471 326260 395228
Poland 1 2.30 3.30 4.51 4.65 4.56 4.03 3.72 3.41 3.33 3.49 161511 367062 521970 655499 669863 657902 580731 536579 494978 484676 507637
Netherlands 2.50 2.60 2.50 2.61 2.65 2.67 2.67 3.03 3.31 3.50 3.75 48765 49330 46233 48038 48936 49159 49273 54350 59209 63809 68068
Luxembourg 2.40 2.70 2.80 3.14 3.39 3.43 3.21 3.47 4.15 4.39 4.42 3158 3614 3614 4130 4447 4490 4216 4528 5444 5782 5814
Cyprus 1 2.60 2.80 3.38 4.03 3.63 3.72 4.94 4.61 4.55 4.98 1698 3184 3184 3923 4315 3887 4699 5550 5616 6022 6240
Hungary 2.20 2.40 2.40 2.45 2.45 2.34 2.43 3.48 3.73 3.92 5.71 128576 140292 127605 130607 130990 124841 129735 186322 199683 209382 303190
Belgium 1.70 3 3.60 4.48 4.67 5 5.17 5.80 6.28 6.56 6.85 22994 41459 49005 59718 62471 66704 68818 78452 83508 89025 93119
Croatia 0 0 0 2.40 3.13 4.03 4.94 6.05 6.46 6.94 7.19 0 14069 15913 31904 40660 50054 75883 93593 96618 103166 108127
France 1.90 1.90 2.90 3.55 3.66 3.87 4.54 5.29 5.99 7.01 7.72 550488 677513 845442 1030881 1060755 1118845 1322911 1537351 1744420 2034115 2240797
Germany 4.70 5.60 5.90 5.76 6.04 6.18 6.34 6.82 6.82 7.34 7.75 807406 947115 990702 959832 1008926 1033807 1060291 1135941 1138272 1221303 1290839
Lithuania 2.30 4.80 5.20 5.51 5.74 5.57 7.11 7.50 7.98 8.13 8.14 64544 129055 143644 156539 165885 164390 213579 221665 234134 239691 242118
Portugal 6.20 4.30 5.80 5.48 5.31 5.74 6.53 6.74 7.04 5.93 8.16 233458 157179 210981 200833 197295 212346 241375 245052 253786 213118 293213
Spain 3.10 6.60 6.70 7.49 6.85 7.26 8.24 8.48 8.73 9.28 9.66 807569 1602871 1615047 1756548 1610129 1710475 1968570 2018802 2082173 2246475 2354916
Greece 7.60 8.50 8.40 9.01 7.36 6.71 7.69 6.51 7.96 9.32 10.26 288737 326252 309823 462618 383606 362826 407069 342584 410140 492627 528752
Slovakia 4.60 7.50 9.10 8.53 8.18 9.37 9.47 9.75 9.90 9.85 10.31 90206 145490 174471 164360 157848 180307 181882 187024 189148 188986 197565
Slovenia 4.60 6.30 6.40 7.32 8.07 8.55 8.85 9.12 9.60 10.01 10.35 23499 29388 30689 35101 38664 41237 42188 43579 46222 47848 49638
Denmark 4.90 5.90 6.10 7.31 6.44 6.25 6.33 7.81 8.60 9.75 10.87 134129 156433 162903 194706 169310 165773 166788 204950 226307 256711 285526
Finland 6.50 7.20 7.40 8.65 9.07 9.29 9.91 10.47 11.41 13.09 13.48 147587 166172 169168 197751 204810 210649 225235 238240 259271 297442 306484
Latvia 6.80 8.70 9.20 10.63 9.89 10.86 12.29 13.42 13.92 14.47 14.79 118612 160175 166320 195658 185752 203443 231608 259146 268870 280383 289796
Italy 7.30 8.10 8.60 9.30 10.60 10.91 11.79 13.99 14.67 15.17 15.16 1069462 1106683 1113742 1167362 1317177 1387913 1492571 1796333 1908570 1957937 1993225
Czechia 7.10 10.60 12.40 13.29 13.47 13.44 13.68 14 14.09 14.76 15.19 254982 376923 435610 468670 474231 472663 478033 488591 496277 519910 535185
Sweden 7 12.80 14.30 15.76 16.50 16.53 17.14 18.30 19.16 20.29 20.43 222738 391524 438693 477684 500996 501831 518983 552695 576845 608754 613964
Estonia 7.20 11 12.80 14.86 15.65 15.96 15.68 18.02 20.01 20.98 22.33 59741 102305 121569 142065 151164 155560 155806 180852 196441 206590 220737
Austria 16.70 18.50 19.50 18.62 18.40 19.35 20.30 21.25 23.37 24.08 25.33 479216 518172 538210 533230 526689 525521 552141 571423 620656 639097 671703
EU 3.80 4.70 5.10 5.64 5.70 5.78 6.20 6.68 7.03 7.50 7.92 6362954 8548416 9174505 10047896 10070639 10315169 11105856 11935317 12560788 13438168 14252939
Figure KM08-4: UAA with organic farming by municipalities in 2020
Show data

Goals

  • To include 64,000 ha of utilised agricultural area into organic farming by 2013;
  • To include 20% of utilised agricultural area into organic farming by 2015;
  • To include 55,000 ha of utilised agricultural area in organic farming by 2020;
  • To include 55,000 ha of utilised agricultural area in organic farming by 2023.

Organic farming is a special form of sustainable management of natural resources in line with the principles of raising the quality of food, improving the animal welfare, preserving biodiversity, reducing environmental pollution and of the sustainable rural development. The use of synthetic plant protection products and easily soluble mineral fertilisers, growth regulators and hormones, genetically modified organisms, etc. is not allowed on areas intended for organic farming. Since 2001, organic farming is regulated by organic farming legislation (Ur. l. RS, št. 72/18, popr. 17/19).

In Slovenia, the organic farming started to spread in the late 1990s and in 1999, the farmers had the chance to claim support for this type of production for the first time. In 2001, support for the organic farming was included in the Slovenian agri-environmental program, which after the EU accession in 2004 became a part of the Rural Development Programme of the Republic of Slovenia. Increasing market opportunities (increased demand for organic food) and stimulative institutional environment, have contributed to the increased growth of the share of agricultural holdings and agricultural areas engaged in organic farming.

In 1999, the control of organic farming included 2,400 ha or 0.5% of the total utilised agricultural area. By 2020, the organic farming was extended to 52,078 ha or 10.8% of the total utilised agricultural area. The organic farming area expanded primarily as a consequence of the inclusion of permanent meadows and pastures, while the organic farming on arable land, gardens, and land with permanent crops expanded as well. The share of permanent meadows and pastures in the structure of the agricultural land with organic farming has been decreasing constantly (92% in 2001, 85% in 2010, 82% in 2015 and 80% in 2020), but permanent meadows and pastures continue to be the prevailing form of the organic farming (followed by arable land with 13% and permanent orchards with 6% share in 2020) This is also reflected in the spatial distribution of the organic farming. Most areas with organic farming relative to the total utilised agricultural area are located in areas where extensive grassland prevails (karst areas of the Primorska, Notranjska and Kočevska regions, mountainous and highland parts of the Koroška region), while in the lowland areas, they are located where natural conditions allow for the intensive farming and more diverse production (north-eastern Slovenia, the Novo mesto Basin and the Posavje region, northern part of the Ljubljana Basin). Consequently, the predominant crop from organic permanent grassland is hay (102 thousand tonnes in 2020) (SORS, 2021). According to the set goal of the Rural Development Programme of the Republic of Slovenia to include 55,000 ha of the utilised agricultural area in organic farming by 2023, we estimate that the current trend of converting to organic farming is good. Assuming the average converting to organic farming of the last few years, it is expected that the goal will be reached by the end of 2023.

Organic farming has been spreading in the EU as well. In 2019, the areas under the organic farming (or converting to it) in the EU countries have been carried out in 14.3 million ha, which represents 7.9% of the total utilised agricultural area (3.6% in 2005, 5.1% in 2010, 6.2% in 2015 and 7.9% in 2019). The highest shares of organic farming are in Austria (25.3% in 2019), Estonia (22.3%) and Sweden (20.4%). By the share of organic farming, Slovenia ranks in the upper third of the EU (in 2019 ranked 9th). The highest share of land with organic farming in the EU are in Spain (17.1%, France (16.2%), Italy (14.5%), and Germany (9.4%). These countries combined cultivate more than half of all land with organic farming in the EU. In the structure of the organic farming on the EU level, the most prevalent is organic farming on the arable land (45.8%) and permanent meadows and pastures (42.9%), followed by permanent crops (11.3%).


Methodology

Date of data source summarization
Other sources and literature

Organic farming statistics (Statistics Explained). 2021. Eurostat.
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/pdfscache/5461.pdf (15. 3. 2021)

Pravilnik o ekološki pridelavi in predelavi kmetijskih pridelkov oziroma živil. 2018. Uradni list RS, št. 72/18, in 17/19 – popr. http://www.pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=PRAV13168 (15. 3. 2021)

SURS. 2021. Pridelava ekoloških rastlinskih pridelkov po pomembnejših skupinah kmetijskih kultur, Slovenija, letno.

https://pxweb.stat.si/SiStatData/pxweb/sl/Data/-/1561905S.px/table/tableViewLayout2/ (15. 3. 2021)


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