Organic farming is an overall system of farm management and food production that contributes to the preservation of natural resources. Organic farming in the EU is a fast-growing sector; EU organic area has increased by 10% in the last 10 years and in 2017, organic retail sales reached €34 billion (Organic farming in the EU, 2019). In Ireland, the area of agricultural land under organic farming practices has increased from 1.16% in 2012, to 1.63% in 2019. However, at 1.63%, the share of organic farming as a percentage of total utilised agricultural area still falls below the European Union average of 8.5%.

For more information of the statistics of organic farming in Ireland visit:

https://agridata.ec.europa.eu/extensions/DashboardIndicators/OrganicProduction.html

https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/food-farming-fisheries/farming/documents/market-brief-organic-farming-in-the-eu_mar2019_en.pdf