Promotion of organic farming
The promotion of organic farming is a key agro-political concern in Austria. Numerous subsidisation schemes guarantee support on the part of the State.
Without compensation payments, a diverse and area-wide agricultural system would not be possible in Austria’s less-favoured and mountainous regions. A flagship of high-quality agricultural management is organic farming, which does without chemical-synthetic plant protection products and fertilisers, animal husbandry particularly well adapted to the needs of animals, and the non-use of GMO also in feeding. Society should be grateful and should appreciate all these additional services that are for the benefit of people and the environment.
Activities like, above all, the Austrian Agri-environmental Programme “ÖPUL”, the compensatory allowance, the investment aids for farm modernisation, as well as measures for the promotion of processing and marketing and, last but not least, measures for education, consultancy, public relations work, research and schools are particularly useful for organic farming.
ÖPUL alone provides about EUR 180 million to approx. 24,000 organic farms for their environmental services.
But also funds for sales promotion, marketing institutions and innovations play an important role in the marketing chain of organic food.
Last but not least the support of agricultural research and of the agricultural schools (e.g. HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein) are indispensable for the present, and future, success of organic farming in Austria.