Austria is organic country No. 1
Today, Federal Minister Norbert Totschnig invited people to the annual organic survey at the Ministry of Agriculture. “Austria is the number one organic country in Europe and our goal is to keep it that way. The “Organic Agriculture 2023+ Action Program” will contribute to this and is therefore an essential part of the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy,” emphasized Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig at the presentation of the action program, which was also attended by BIO AUSTRIA chairwoman Gertraud Grabmann and LKÖ President Josef Moosbrugger. The action program includes, for example, supporting the Green Deal goals for agriculture, taking into account the measures of the EU organic action plan, implementing the organic regulation 2018/848 and increasing demand for organic products through appropriate offerings and information .
“According to the EU organic action plan, organic areas in Europe are to be expanded to 25 percent by 2030. With more than 26 percent of the area and 22 percent of the farms in organic farming, we have already achieved the EU target. We are aiming to expand to over 30 percent and thus continue to play a pioneering role,” explained Totschnig. The way to get there is through the new Common Agricultural Policy, in which organic production plays an important role. Support measures amounting to around 550 million euros are available annually for this purpose. In addition, organic will again exist as a separate measure in the ÖPUL environmental program. “More than ten percent of the food we buy is organic. We observe that consumers remain loyal to these products despite generally increased prices. “Whoever buys regionally strengthens our family farms, protects the environment through shorter transport routes and the added value stays in the country,” appeals the Minister of Agriculture.
In that of Dr. Andreas Steinwidder ( Organic Institute, HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein ), BIO AUSTRIA chairwoman Gertraud Grabmann and LKÖ President Josef Moosbrugger assured the Federal Minister of their full support in implementing the planned organic measures.
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