Posted on 05/22/2015 12:58:14 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Between 2010 and 2013, Germany’s market for organic foods increased by one-fourth to almost €8 billion. Still, switching to organic cultivation remains a difficult process for farmers. While revenue from organic products has enjoyed an annual increase of 5-9% since 2011, the parallel increase in surface area over the past four years has only been 1-3%.
Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt hopes to change this. “We want a timetable for growth that allows domestic producers to benefit more from the boom,” he said on Tuesday (19 May) in Berlin. Organic must be strengthened, he said, with the help of the Future Strategy Organic Farming plan.
Schmidt’s Ministry hopes to work out details of the scheme together with representatives from the organic foods industry, and with involvement from Germany’s states, relevant associations and academia.
In this way, Germany, which is the biggest market for organic products in Europe, will take advantage of its “key role”, Schmidt indicated. If growth in the organic sector remains at the same level, it would take until 2077 for Germany to reach its goal of having 20% of cropland used by organic farmers. …
(Excerpt) Read more at euractiv.com ...
Shades of Charlemagne.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.