Match organic area to demand

25 January 2002




Match organic area to demand

By Johann Tasker

and Isabel Davies

ATTEMPTS to boost the amount of organic farmland could be commercial suicide for producers, Britains second-largest organic farming group has warned.

Charles Peers, chairman of Organic Farmers and Growers, said he was alarmed by campaigners who want 30% of farmland in England and Wales to be organic by 2010. The Organic Targets campaign also wants British organic farmers to receive the same amount of government help given to other European organic producers.

But Mr Peers said the campaign should not be based on purist ideology. He told FARMERS WEEKLY: "Unless there is sufficient consumer demand and it is supported by retailer loyalty to home-produced products at fair and sustainable prices, any increase in organic production would be commercial suicide"

The campaigners disagree. Although the organic sector has boomed in recent years, more than 70% of organic food consumed in the UK is imported and only 3% of UK agricultural land is farmed organically. And unlike European farmers, British producers receive no special support once they convert to organic status

Mr Peerss stance puts his organisation in conflict with the Soil Association – Britains biggest organic group – which is holding its annual conference in Harrogate today (Fri, Jan 25). Up to 300 members of the Soil Association and 100 other organisations supporting the Organic Targets campaign gathered in London to lobby MPs on Wed (Jan 23).

Soil Association director Patrick Holden defended the Organic Targets campaign, accusing its detractors of missing the point.

"If the government puts together a target involving ongoing support for organic farming then it reduces the absolute dependency on the market we currently have to make a living," he said.

But two of Britains biggest supermarkets – Tesco and Safeway – believe that growth of the organic sector must be demand led. &#42

A Tesco spokesman said: "We are certainly in favour of more organics but we certainly dont think that setting a target of 30% by 2010 is the right way of going about it."

Nevertheless, Tesco believes its annual organic sales will hit £1billion within five years, accounting for 5% of all food sold in its UK stores. There is evidence, however, that parts of the market are over-supplied. Falling organic milk prices have prompted fears that the boom-time is over, a FARMERS WEEKLY investigation revealed last month (News, Dec 7, 2001).


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