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CURRENT TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC FARMING IN LATVIA
Abstract
Although intensification of agricultural practices is traditionally viewed as one of the quickest way of achieving food independence, the increasing demand for energy and unsustainable development of agriculture are detrimental to natural habitats and decrease biological diversity. Organic farming offers a viable alternative and has the potential to facilitate the gradual expansion of environmentally friendly technologies. By carrying out the analysis of statistical data on the value of organic production obtained from the national Agricultural Data Centre and the EU Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA), this paper aims to explore the recent trends in the development of organic farming practices in Latvia. Although from 2015 to 2019 the percentage of the value of organic production in the total output had increased almost 2 times, there were significant differences across a variety of organic farming products. The highest percentage was made up by buckwheat, oats and some industrial crops (e.g., medicinal herbs and spices), fruit and berries. In the livestock breeding sector, organic farming was particularly widespread across sheep, goat (incl. goat milk), rabbit, horse and deer breeding farms as well as in beekeeping. In contrast, the cultivation of organic products was unpopular among specializations like poultry (fresh meat and eggs) and pig farming. Despite a remarkable progress and a continuously growing importance of organic farming in Latvia, its proportion in the total output of agricultural activities remains relatively low.
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