the world of organic agriculture - Organic Eprints

3 Contacts and Data Sources
(NAGREF) organized an International Symposium on „Organic Agriculture in the
Mediterranean: Problems and Perspectives „, held at Chania, Crete (Fig. 3).
The necessity for the organization of a Mediterranean conference comes from the need for
exchanging knowledge on issues of organic agriculture, formulating proposals and determining
the priorities for the further development of this sustainable agro-dietary system.
This conference was an opportunity for presenting the practical and socio-economic problems
of organic agriculture in the Mediterranean region and provides ideas for their solution, based
on the experience of the representatives of organizations involved to organic agriculture and the
latest advances in agricultural research.
The general topics of the Symposium included the following:
• The present situation of organic agriculture in the Mediterranean (country reports)
• Research advances related to organic agriculture
• Scientific reports on socio-economic aspects of organic agriculture for the
Mediterranean countries.
17.8 Outlook
Organic farming supplies the Mediterranean countries with a production system that focuses on
strategic interests, not only for the single farm but also for the whole land system. It is not only a
production method but also rather an actual development model that integrates environmental,
socio-economic and ethical aspects.
Despite the progressive development of organic farming and the rising interest of the major
international markets, the evolution of the organic sector in the Mediterranean region is
constrained by some critical points.
First of all, different countries still lack a regulatory framework. There are no reference national
laws regulating the certification and inspection systems and, when existing, legislation
necessitates an adjustment to the regulations in force at European and international levels.
There are still no co-coordinated measures to back up the development of Mediterranean organic
farming: very few and occasional actions ranging from training and extension to experimentation
are carried out; there are no national or regional policies fostering, both directly and indirectly,
the conversion of farms. Therefore, contrary to what has happened in Europe, organic agriculture
is growing in the Mediterranean area with a poor technical support, sometimes financed by the
institutions.
Moreover, the Mediterranean region is also suffering for the great gap in the technical and
scientific knowledge about the application of organic production method, which includes
techniques developed in areas characterized by greatly different soil, climatic and cultural
conditions. An additional constraint is the great difficulty to find out the technical means to be
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