The organic sector might have been in the doldrums from a multiple-retail sales perspective over the past few years, but new research brings encouragement that the industry still has a rosy future.

According to figures from the Worldwatch Institute, despite a slight decline between 2009 and 2010, since 1999 the global land area farmed organically has more than tripled to 37 million hectares. Oceania, with 12.1m ha, Europe (10m ha) and Latin America (8.4m ha) have the largest areas under certified organic land.

The data shows that by 2010 organic regulations had been implemented in some 84 countries, up from 74 a year earlier. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture defines organic production as a system that relies on ecological processes, such as waste recycling, rather than the use of synthetic inputs, such as chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

“Although organic agriculture often produces lower yields on land that has recently been farmed conventionally, it can outperform conventional practices – especially in times of drought – when the land has been farmed organically for a longer time,” says report author Laura Reynolds, a researcher with Worldwatch’s Food and Agriculture Program. “Conventional agricultural practices often degrade the environment over both the long and short term through soil erosion, excessive water extraction and biodiversity loss.”

The organisation believes organic farming has the potential to contribute to sustainable food security by improving nutrition intake and sustaining livelihoods in rural areas, while also reducing vulnerability to climate change and enhancing biodiversity. It also points out that the sustainable practices associated with organics – such as rotating crops, applying mulch to empty fields and maintaining perennial shrubs and trees on farm – are relatively labour intensive, but do at least bring more stabilised soils and improved water retention, as well as a 30 per cent higher biodiversity.

However there are areas of concern, not least the fact that certifications for organic agriculture are increasingly concentrated in wealthier countries. From 2009 to 2010, Europe increased its organic farmland by nine per cent to 10m ha – the largest growth in any region – but the US has lagged behind other countries in adopting sustainable farming methods, according to Worldwatch. It tempers that comment by stressing that when national sales rather than production are considered, the US organic sector is one of the fastest-growing industries in the nation, expanding by 9.5 percent in 2011 to $31.5 billion in sales.

Worldwatch believes sustainable food production will become increasingly important in developing countries, where agriculture is often much more labour intensive.

And with around 80 per cent of the 1.6m global certified organic farmers living in the developed world, there would seem to be significant potential for growth. —