Alan Farrell
Ceist:50. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his Department’s efforts to increase the number of organic farms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8385/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 22 February 2024
Ceisteanna (50)
Freagraí scríofa
My Department is committed to achieving 10% of all land farmed organically by 2030.
A key element of this is providing the infrastructure and support to both those farmers that convert to Organic and those who are thinking of converting.
There has been a very strong uptake in the Organic Farming Scheme over the last three years, most recently in December 2023, when a further 1,000 farmers joined the Scheme. This means that, this year, there will be more than 5,000 organic farmers in Ireland farming approximately 5% of the land.
My Department, through the aegis of the Organic Strategy Forum, has conducted a review of the 2019 - 2025 Organic Food Sector and Strategy. This demonstrated that most actions have now been delivered, and have stimulated a renewed interest in, and focus on, organic farming.
In order to build on the progress made to date, and to ensure that momentum is maintained, a new National Strategy for the Organic Sector 2024 to 2030 is being developed. This will be published during Quarter 2 of 2024. Once published, an implementation plan will be put in place and will measure progress across key performance indicators. It is intended that this will be published on a quarterly basis.
Question No. 51 answered with Question No. 48.