The European Union has set a goal of bringing organic farming to 25% of the agricultural area used by 2050. In Italy 17% of agriculture is organic compared to a European average of 9%.
On Sunday, December 4, 2022 the “Bio Festival” (Festa del Bio), organized by FederBio was held in Bologna, with debates, show cooking and tastings. This was an important opportunity to examine Italy’s organic sector with the aim of searching for solutions to the current food, climate and energy crisis.
“To those who say that organic is a luxury that we cannot afford right now, we must answer that it is actually a solution” stated Maria Grazia Mammuccini, president of FederBio, describing organic farming as a path to a more sustainable agri-food future.
The intensive industrial agriculture model is one of the causes of climate change and is based on systems that use a lot of energy, as well as petroleum-derived products (such as fertilizers and pesticides).
Traditionally, the South has always had a much larger organic cultivated area than the rest of Italy. Also thanks to the more favorable climate which allows you not to use synthetic chemicals, unlike the humid climate which, on the other hand, brings more diseases to plants. Italy’s South has realized that organic farming is a way to enhance its products. Overall, production is concentrated in the South and processing and distribution in the Centre-North.
There are regions that have made great strides. Emilia-Romagna has been working a lot in the direction of organic farming in recent years and is also one of the regions where the organic system was born. Tuscany has very high production levels and an important allocation of resources destined for the growth of organic farming. Then there are regions left behind. Lombardy, for example, is not only among the rear lights but in the new programming it is among the regions that have allocated less than all to organic compared to the rest. We need to work to ensure that we invest in the sector even in regions where it is less widespread but where soil care and the reduction of environmental impact are absolute priorities. As in the Po Valley.
At the European level, there have been important innovations such as the new regulation that recently came into force and the Farm to Fork strategy. The latter has set the goal of tripling the areas cultivated organically. Furthermore, the European action plan for organic agriculture has already been released, in which 30% of promotion resources and 30% of research resources are allocated to organic farming.
