With the negative effects of synthetic chemical agricultural inputs being felt, the search for alternative systems to conventional agricultural methods began at the beginning of our century. Within the scope of Albert Howard's "Agricultural Will" in 1910 and Dr. Rudolf Steiner's "Biodynamic Agriculture Method" in 1924, producers and consumers who were sensitive to this issue came together in many European countries and started ecological agriculture studies. The studies, which continued until the 1970s, gained an international character with the establishment of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) in 1972. IFOAM, which was formed by 5 founding organizations from 3 continents, aims to gather all ecological agriculture movements in the world under one roof, to direct the development of the movement in a healthy way, to prepare the necessary standards and regulations, and to convey all developments to its members and all relevant sectors.
World organic product trade developed in the 1980s, and in the late 1990s, due to concerns and reactions to issues such as mad cow disease, dioxin and GMOs, there was a significant increase in consumer demand for organic products, and organic agriculture entered the agenda of many international organizations.
The first comprehensive regulation on organic agriculture in the world was published by the EU in 1991 and later many changes were made and the section on animal products was added in 1999. After Bioswiss prepared by Switzerland and Codex Alimentarius prepared by FAO in 1999, the organic agriculture standards called NOP in the USA and JAS in Japan, which were prepared and put into effect in 2000, have affected the global market movements all over the world, especially globally.
Organic agriculture has shown a rapid development trend worldwide, especially in the last 5-6 years. Today, organic agriculture is carried out in approximately 31.5 million hectares of land and 622,782 agricultural enterprises in 120 countries around the world. The countries with the largest organic agricultural land in the world are Australia (11.8 million hectares), Argentina (3.1 million hectares), China (2.3 million hectares) and the USA (1.6 million hectares). These countries are followed by Italy, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Uruguay and England, respectively.
If we examine the organic farming areas in the world according to continents;
10 million hectares in Europe
11 million hectares in America
1.1 million hectares in Africa
2.8 million hectares in Asia
12.1 million hectares in Australia
Organic farming is carried out in the area.
The largest natural collection areas are in Europe and Africa. In terms of collection quantity, the most important products are bamboo shoots, berries and nuts.
The countries where some products are grown most organically are as follows:
Organic citrus: Italy
Organic coffee: Mexico, Paraguay
Organic cocoa: Dominican Republic
Organic grapes: Italy, Spain, France
Organic olives: Italy, Spain, Tunisia
Organic cotton: Türkiye, USA
Organic grain: Italy, USA
Organic rice: Thailand, Philippines