HC Deb 29 October 2001 vol 373 cc542-3W
Mr. Peter Ainsworth

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the proportion of UK agricultural land under organic production is; and what the proportion is in(a) the EU member states and (b) the USA. [7876]

Margaret Beckett

[holding answer 15 October 2001]: As at the end of June 2001 around 3.4 per cent. of UK agricultural land was under organic management.

Figures for end 2000 produced by Organic Europe www.organic-europe.net indicate that the proportion of total agricultural land under organic management in other EU member states is as follows:

Member state Organic area as a percentage of total agricultural area
Austria 8.0
Belgium 1.5
Denmark 6.2
Finland 6.8
France 1.3
Germany 3.2
Greece 0.7
Ireland 0.8
Italy 7.0
Luxembourg 0.8
Netherlands 1.4
Portugal 1.3
Spain 1.5
Sweden 6.3

Information published by the USDA www.ers.usda.gov from the 1997 Census of Agriculture shows land under organic management to be around 0.15 per cent. of total agricultural land in the USA.