Number 2 - 2004 - Acta Horticulturae

150,000 to nearly 500,000 ha under duly registered
crops, or about 25% yearly, with
approximately 16,000 holdings. However, if
we add to these figures the number of holdings
undergoing conversion to organic management,
the total jumps to more than 1 million
ha. The leading regions are Extremadura
and Andalusia (280,000 ha combined), followed
by Catalonia and Aragon, each at about
50,000 ha. Cereals account for 70,000 ha,
olive 82,000, grape and nuts like almond and
walnut about 33,000 ha each, but tree-fruit
crops for only 3,500 ha, with vegetables a bit
lower still and citrus at less than 1,000 ha.
Note that, contrary to what might be assumed,
almost all of Spain’s organic crops are grown
for export, Germany being the prime customer.
Spain’s environment, especially in the
south where rainfall is scant in spring-summer,
is highly favourable to organic crops and it is
promoting massive advertising campaigns
backed by large supermarket chains throughout
Europe.
Figure 3. Logos of private or state organic marketing labels in Europe.
Austria (state) Belgium (private) Czech Republic (state)
Denmark (state) Finland (state) France (state)
Germany (state) Netherlands (state) Norway (private)
SWITZERLAND
The organic apple area jumped tenfold in the
decade ending 2001 to 244 ha, with yields of
about 16 t/ha, i.e. about 15-30% lower than
that for conventional orchards. About the main
cultivars, the most surprising fact here is that
the scab-resistant cultivars now account for
14% of the total (with Topaz representing a
third), a probable record share in Europe. Pear,
on the other hand, accounts for about 50 ha
‘Conference’, ‘Buona Luisa’, ‘Alexander’ and
‘Williams’ the main cultivars; cherry stands at
about 6 ha, the main cultivars being the local
‘Langstieler’ and ‘Baster Adler’ and the new
ones ‘Kordia’ and ‘Regina’. The 19 ha of
organic strawberry show 20-40% lower yields
than with conventional ones. There are 6 ha of
organic peach, 2 ha of apricot and plum and
about 15 under small fruits. Farm gate figures
show € 1.36/kg for apple and € 4/kg for
strawberry, with about 80% of the latter earmarked
for processing.
Crop protection measures in apple are mainly
focused on pathogen attacks of scab, mildew
(Podosphaera leucotricha), Pseudomonas
syringae, and of codling moth and aphids in
preharvest and Gleosporium rots in postharvest
on ‘Pinova’, Topaz’ and ‘Maygold’.
Monilinia is the main problem in stone fruits,
although Xanthomonas pruni and various
aphids also are a problem in cherry.
MANAGEMENT SKILLS AND
EXPERIMENTATION
Spain (state) Sweden (private) Switzerland (private)
Growers employing organic regimes are
expected to bring greater attention to details,
greater commitment and be more proactive
both as to their protocols and to their work in
general than those who are committed to integrated
production (IP) systems. This is because
every new season brings new challenges,
especially in terms of crop protection. For
Figure 4. Organic pears in the
Italian market.
example, a treatment that may have worked
the previous year, can readily turn out to be
inadequate the next. There is also the fact that
while most growers are, at least, potentially
capable of successfully applying IP protocols,
this is true only for some when it comes to
organic regulations. There is, unfortunately,
even a certain mind-set among a segment of
growers who think, wrongly, that sitting back
and letting nature take its course is the best
rule of thumb to get the desired results with
organic production. Upgrading both crops and
growers’ skills will need more research and
experimentation targeted to each district and
extension services that are up-to-date with the
proper know-how.
Nonetheless, the overall view of the supply
and demand trends for organic crops and produce
are still fundamentally expanding. As
Zanoli and Micheloni (2003) have noted, the
Mediterranean countries have little weight
they can bring to bear in the EU’s decisionmaking
process here, a fact due in part to the
dearth of experimental data and to organizational
shortcomings of the organic industry’s
pipeline and regulatory mechanisms. This can
CHRONICA HORTICULTURAE •VOL 44 • NUMBER 2 • 2004 • 9