Spain, leader in Europe on ecological crops

As can be seen from the statistical data on organic agriculture and livestock for 2015 and published last November by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment (MAPAMA), our country is the first Member State of the European Union in the area of organic crops, which has doubled in the last ten years.

The area registered in Spain in this method of production has reached the figure of 1,968,570 hectares, an increase of 18.4% compared to 2014

Of the total area of organic crops in our country, slightly more than half correspond to permanent pastures, which is an important asset for the development of organic livestock, which amounts to 7.553 livestock farms, three times ten years ago and with A 24% increase over the year 2014.

Something similar has happened with operators (producers, processors and marketers), which in 2015 have reached 37,870, while in 2005 were 17,509.

By Autonomous Communities Andalusia stands out, with 51% of the area, 65% of the farms and 34% of the ecological operators. It’s followed by Castilla-La Mancha and Catalonia

Among the permanent crops, stand out the olive tree with 197,136 ha (around 7% of the whole olive grove) obtaining more than 200,000 t of olive oil; Nuts with 113,958 ha (13% of the total area); And the organic vineyard with 96,591 ha (9% of total vineyard area), obtaining more than 395,000 tons of wine grapes.

In arable land (209,001ha) must be highlighted dry legumes and grain protein crops (39,555 ha, more than 10% of the total area) and fresh vegetables and strawberries (13,578 ha).

Spain has registered 7.553 organic livestock farms, including cattle (3,515 farms with more than 190,000 heads), sheep (2,169 with 596,209 heads) and goats (777 farms with almost 69,500 head of cattle)

In 2015, production was 28,849 tonnes of meat, 24,087 tonnes of milk, more than 4 million dozen eggs, 911 t of honey and 2,709 t of ecological aquaculture.

Industrial activity

Regarding industrial activities related to organic production, there are 4,960 industries registered, of which 1,785 are related to fruits and vegetables, 969 of beverages (mainly wine) and 715 of olive oil

In industries related to organic animal production there were a total of 865 in 2015, with meat and meat products with 351 and dairy products with 141 (in 2005 there were only 54 organic dairy industries).

To see the complete statistics, click on the following link.

Source: MAPAMA