Organic grows in the olive groves, but few certify the oil

The organic olive grove area in Italy is growing every year. And at ever faster rates. From the 2021 al 2022 there was an increase of more than 10% (10,5 to be exact) which has brought the national olive heritage to reach i 273.624 hectares. A big leap forward not only compared to 247.638 hectares of the previous year, but on closer inspection in the long term: just think that in 2010 the hectares olive groves converted to organic were just 140 thousand, i.e. practically half of the current ones.
To date the organic olive area is equal to 27,5% of the total (just under a million hectares). A percentage that sees, in terms of bio, the olive sector behind only that of citrus fruits (31,5%) and decidedly ahead of wine (still at 21.3%). For the national olive grove, therefore, exceeded well in advance the target of 25% set by the Farm to Fork Strategy for 2030 to make Europe's food system more sustainable.
But be careful: taking into account theeffective organic oil production, it is evident to all that the same is undersized compared to organic hectares, which confirms the decision of many olive producers to convert to organic farming just to access the contributions foreseen by the various Rural Development Plans, without then certifying the oil produced. A trend that is even more true for the 35% of olive growers who produce oil for their own consumption. Ismea estimated a few years ago that just 9% of the oil produced in Italy is in fact certified organic.
In any case, the regions that record a greater number of organic olive groves are obviously those that also have a higher density of conventional ones: the Puglia can boast 88.652 hectares of organic olive groves, in front of Calabria with 69.034 and the Sicily with 35.038. Fourth place for Toscana which records 25.879 hectares of organic olive groves, while they are even more than 10 hectares Campania (12.892) e Lazio (10.950).
The data is contained in the latest report “Organic in numbers” made by Ismea and presented in L'Aquila in recent days from which it also emerged that unfortunately, the consumption of organic products is growing at a slower rate than the traditional agri-food sector, although comforting signs they are coming from ho.re.ca channel linked to the catering of public establishments.