Greece, organic farming on the rise in the North

Marking a two-or even three-digit rise in 2005-2006, ranging from 54% to 120% depending on the region, organic farming is becoming increasingly popular in northern Greece. Based on figures released by the organic farming division of the Agricultural Development and Foods ministry - the news agency ANSAmed reports - a total of 616,819 stremma (one stremma=1,000 square metres) of farm land in northern Greece was used for organic cultivation in 2006. According to Eurostat figures presented on the occasion of the 2007 Green Week, in 2005 organic farming in the EU-25 corresponded only to 4% of the overall cultivated land. The Countries where organic farming is gaining the most ground, as ANA reports, are Austria (11%), Italy (8.4%), Greece (7.2%) and the Czech Republic (7.2%), while Malta (0.1%), Poland (0.6%) and Ireland (0.8%) are lagging behind in alternative farming methods.