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.

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. From 2001 to 2022, organic farming was regulated by organic farming legislation (Ur. l. RS, št. 72/18, popr. 17/19), and from 2022 is regulated by decree on the organic production and processing of agricultural products and food (Ur. l. RS, št. 105/22).

Financial incentives for organic farming are implemented in Slovenia as part of the Rural Development Policy Programmes. Organic farming started to spread in Slovenia in the late 1990s and the first support for organic farming was made available to farmers in 1999. In 2001, organic farming support was included in the Slovenian agri-environmental programme, which became part of the Rural Development Programme of the Republic of Slovenia after accession to the EU. 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 2022, the organic farming was extended to 53,202 ha or 11.1% 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, 80% in 2020 and 79% in 2022), but permanent meadows and pastures continue to be the prevailing form of the organic farming (followed by arable land with 14% and permanent orchards with 7% share in 2022) 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 (115 thousand tonnes in 2022) (SORS, 2023). 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 (53,202 ha under organic farming in 2022, 97% of the target).

Organic farming has been spreading in the EU as well. In 2021, the areas under the organic farming (or converting to it) in the EU countries have been carried out in 15.9 million ha, which represents 9.9% of the total utilised agricultural area (3.8% in 2005, 5.1% in 2010, 6.2% in 2015 and 9.1% in 2020). The highest shares of organic farming are in Austria[1] (25.7%), Estonia (23.0%) and Sweden (20.2%). By the share of organic farming, Slovenia ranks in the upper third of the EU (in 2021 ranked 11^th). The highest share of land with organic farming in the EU are in France (17.1%), Spain (16.6%), Italy (14.2%), and Germany (10.8%). These countries combined cultivate almost 60% 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%) (2019 data).

[1] Data for year 2020.