Could UK organic grain production be set to come under further pressure from imports from low-cost production areas? A meeting 14th April 2010 in Moldova will seek to promote organic production in Moldova, Ukraine and Armenia.
A previous report produced in 2007 concluded that "the region’s low use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and its availability of workers presented good prospects for the growth and export of organic food products to Western Europe". Given the current poor infrastructure and so transport it is likely to be non-perishable products such as combinable crops that will be produced for the export market.
The import of organic grain covers a lack of domestic production however it is cannot continue be the longer term strategy for the organic sector in the UK as it is not desirable other than as an interim measure whilst domestic supply develops.
Imported grain has a greater reliance upon finite resources than the use of domestic production due to the greater haulage, shipping and handling involved.
Organic Arable farming provides significant biodiversity benefits to the UK landscape and by importing grain we are effectively exporting these benefits. It should clearly established that any increase in organic production is undertaken through the proper conversion of existing agricultural land and not the destruction of natural or semi-natural grasslands. Because such areas have not been farmed and have not had agrochemicals applied should not mean they are suitable for immediate entry into an organic certification process.
Organic farming systems in the UK are based upon a broader philosophy that the simple exclusion of agrochemicals and it is vital that these principles are upheld in any expansion of organic production proposed by these meetings. If the products of these systems are to enter the EU market they should be fully equivalent to the EU regulation and adequately certified to maintain the integrity of our certification in the UK.
Do consumers really know about or support the importation of grain? Should we in the organic sector not be seeking to localise food supply chains and move the point of production as close to the consumer as possible?
-- Press Releases April 2010 - Growing Organic Agriculture from Eastern Europe to Central Asia - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) --
