Number of local organic farmers up 2.4 times in 2012

After Romanian farmers started receiving financial support to convert from conventional to organic farming in 2010, their number has gone up significantly, from about 3,100 that year, to 10,000 in 2011 and more than 24,000 this year, said Marian Cioceanu, president of the Bio Romania Association, which is dedicated to organic farming, last week.

By Simona Bazavan

But as their ranks have swollen, the financial support received from the state has decreased, as last year’s budget for organic farming support was fixed. “Local farmers should have received EUR 1,500 per farm in 2011 but instead they were given EUR 213. The certification alone costs more than EUR 250 per year. We hope the ministry will consider the situation and give additional money for 2011 and that next year it will increase the total budget, given that the number of organically certified farmers has increased significantly,” he told BR.

The surface of certified organic farmland, too, has grown from about 17,000 hectares in 2000 to more than 350,000 ha this year, he said.

In the absence of any official data, Cioceanu estimates that Romanians will spend between EUR 50 million and EUR 80 million on organic products this year, with demand continuing to rise. However, most of the local consumption is covered from imports. Romania remains a net exporter of organic raw materials such as cereals and fruit, only to later import processed organic goods, said Cioceanu. But as demand is on the rise both on the local market and abroad, Bio Romania’s president is confident the sector will attract more local and foreign investors.

In 2011 Romania exported organic raw materials worth EUR 150-200 million, estimates Cioceanu. Following the recent drought, volumes are expected to go down this year but the value of exports will remain similar to last year due to higher prices.

Romanian organic products and the local organic industry will be in the international spotlight next year after Romania was selected country of the year at the 2013 Biofach World Organic Trade Fair in Nuremberg – the largest event of this kind in the world. “In this industry, it is the equivalent of organizing the Olympics in your home country,” said Cioceanu.