This indicator shows the surface area of land included in 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 where organic farming has already been carried out, and those in the midst of converting to organic farming. The indicator does not provide direct information on the environmental efficiency of the measure but points to the response of agricultural holdings to the agricultural policy and 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 organic farming of Slovenia with the EU countries (EU-28).

Organic farming is a special form of sustainable management of natural resources in line with the principles of raising the quality of food, reducing environmental pollution, improving animal welfare, preserving biodiversity; which also contribute to 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.

In Slovenia, organic farming started to spread in the late 1990s and, in 1999, farmers had the chance to claim support for this type of production for the first time. In 2001, support for organic farming was included in the Slovenian agri-environmental program, and after the EU accession in 2004, it became part of the Rural Development Programme of the Republic of Slovenia. Favourable market opportunities (increased demand for organic food) and stimulating 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 2018, organic farming was extended to 47,848 ha or 10.0% of the total utilised agricultural area. The organic farming area expanded primarily as a consequence of the inclusion of permanent meadows and pastures, while 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 agricultural land with organic farming has been decreasing constantly (92% in 2001, 85% in 2010, 82% in 2015 and 81% in 2018), but still continue to be the prevailing form of organic farming. This is confirmed by the spatial distribution of 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 lowland areas, they are located where natural conditions allow for intensive farming and more diverse production (north-eastern Slovenia, the Novo mesto Basin and the Posavje region, northern part of the Ljubljana Basin). 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 2017 the areas under organic farming (or converting to it) in the EU-28 countries have been carried out in 12.6 million ha, which represents 7.0% of the total utilised agricultural area (3.6% in 2005, 5.1% in 2010 and 6.2% in 2015). The highest shares of organic farming are in Austria (23.4% in 2017), Estonia (19.6%) and Sweden (19.2%). By share of organic farming, Slovenia ranks somewhere in the upper third of the EU-28 (in 2017 it was ranked 9th). In the structure of organic farming on the EU-28 level, the most prevalent is organic farming on arable land (44.5%) and permanent meadows and pastures (44.2%), followed by permanent crops (11.0%).