|
The area of land under organic management in Wales increased by 5.6% from
54,306 hectares in April 2003 to 57,361 hectares in April 2004. This is
encouraging as it reverses the 6.5% fall in organically managed land that
occurred in 2002/03 (see Figure 1 below). This follows an increase of over
900% between 1998 and 2002, and suggests that organic farming in Wales is
entering a period of consolidation. |
 |
- Organically managed land in Wales accounts for 8.3% of the
total organic land in the UK and 3.9% of the total agricultural
(organic and non-organic) land in Wales.
- Fully organic land area in
Wales increased by 19.7%, from 41,381 hectares in April 2003 to
49,546 hectares in April 2004 (See table 1).
- In the year to April 2004
the area of in-conversion land in Wales declined by almost 40%.
However, the area of in-conversion land in the UK as a whole declined by
almost 70% over the same period. The decline in the area of in-conversion
land throughout the UK can be attributed to much land achieving fully
organic status and a decline in the amount of land entering organic
conversion.
Figure 1: Change in organically managed land area, Wales, April 2001
to April 2002
Table 1: Organically managed land (OML) in Wales and the UK, April 2001
to April 2004
| |
April 2001 (hectares) |
April 2002 (hectares) |
April 2003 (hectares) |
April 2004 (hectares) |
Annual change % |
Percentage of total UK OML |
| Wales
total OML |
42,050 |
58,100 |
54,306 |
57,361 |
5.6 |
8.3 |
| In-conversion |
29,700 |
21,100 |
12,925 |
7,815 |
-39.5 |
13.5 |
| Organic |
12,350 |
37,000 |
41,381 |
49,546 |
19.7 |
7.9 |
| UK Total OML |
552,500 |
729,550 |
726,357 |
688,373 |
-5.2 |
100 |
| UK
In-conversion |
312,500 |
270,900 |
192,090 |
58,074 |
-69.8 |
8.4 |
| UK
Organic |
240,000 |
458,650 |
534,267 |
630,299 |
18 |
91.6 |
Organic land area by county - 2003/04
- Within Wales Powys is the county with the largest area of
organically managed land, a total of 13,156 hectares, almost 23% of
the total area of organically managed land in Wales.
- Just over 50% of the total organically managed land in Wales, 28,805
hectares, is concentrated in the western counties of Carmarthenshire,
Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd
- The remaining 27% of organically managed land is scattered
throughout the smaller counties.
| County |
Organically
managed land (hectares)* |
% of total Welsh organically managed land
|
| Anglesey |
626.4 |
1.1 |
| Cardiff |
139.6 |
0.2 |
| Carmarthenshire |
6434.8 |
11.2 |
| Ceredigion |
5906.6 |
10.3 |
| Clwyd |
435.8 |
0.8 |
| Conwy |
1956.5 |
3.4 |
| Denbighshire |
4729 |
8.2 |
| Flintshire |
436.8 |
0.8 |
| Glamorgan |
1411 |
2.5 |
| Gwent |
379.4 |
0.7 |
| Gwynedd |
7140.9 |
12.4 |
| Monmouthshire |
3176.3 |
5.5 |
| Pembrokeshire |
9322.6 |
16.3 |
| Powys |
13156 |
22.9 |
| Swansea |
161.3 |
0.3 |
| Vale
of Glamorgan |
212.1 |
0.4 |
| West
Glamorgan |
150 |
0.3 |
| Wrexham |
409 |
0.7 |
| No
info |
981.9 |
1.7 |
* Due to inconsistencies in the data collection process the
organically managed land area does not correspond with the total area of
organically managed Welsh land
Further
sources of organic farming statistics:
- Organic land area statistics for the UK are also published annually by the
Soil Association Organic Food & Farming Report (April figures) and the
Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) (December
and March figures)
- To find out more, contact the Soil Association, 0117 914 2400, www.soilassociation.org
or Defra, http://statistics.defra.gov.uk.
For Defra’s January 2004 organic statistics, click here.
Back to Welsh statistics main page
|
