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Organic agriculture - Status and prospects in Croatia

As the Organic Agriculture Act was passed in 2001 and 2007 in Croatia, with the appertaining by-laws, this paper will try to define the current status of Croatian organic agriculture. The Act and the said by-laws foresee a register of plant producers, formation of supervisory stations and authorized laboratories for plant growing and production control, and a period of transition from conventional to organic growing, as well as all the other legislature needed for enhancement of organic plant production. The said legal regulations and the appertaining by-laws applied in the Republic of Croatia were translated from the corresponding regulations of the European Union (Directive 2092 of 1991). It is often heard that organic agriculture is only agriculture without &laquo ; chemistry&raquo ; , which is quite wrong. Adequate crop rotation, fertilization with organic fertilizers, agricultural management practices, humus management, liming are practices that have to be applied in both conventional and ecological agriculture. Good quality sowing/planting material is one of the main prerequisites of any agriculture. But mostly of Croatia farmers are almost without of knowledge. According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture, 7% of Croatian farmers have finished up to three grades of elementary school, 44% to seven grades and 34% have completed elementary school. 13% of Croatian farmers have finished secondary school, and only 2% have higher or high education. Rural population of Croatia aged between 20 and 60 accounts for 51% of the said population, 24% are over 60 while the remaining 25% are younger than 19. Croatian agriculture in the future, regardless of its being sustainable or organic, will need much more knowledge than the average farmer possesses today. Unfortunately, the described educational structure shows that this requirement will be hard to meet. Production of agricultural crops in the ecologically acceptable way, and their popularization through tourism, would certainly contribute to the overall development of the Republic of Croatia. Ecological approach to plant production could revive the numerous traditional activities of our villages, old customs of these parts, which would extend the range of services offered through health, agro- and eco-tourism. Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb recognizes all these problems in organic agriculture. From that reason with new study program (according Bologna process) in 2005/06 start with new study on Bsc level – organic agriculture. On Msc level continue with program with new title: Organic agriculture with ecotourism. The current status of Croatian agriculture does not allow optimistic forecasts for the development of organic agriculture. Another major problem is also that experienced top-grade agronomists left the profession when the former agricultural-industrial plants were abolished. No incentives can compensate for their experience and know-how. In my opinion, there can be no development of organic agriculture without development or conventional (sustainable) agriculture. Once Croatia has developed conventional agriculture based on the principles of sustainable agriculture, ecological agriculture will develop as well. I personally think that in organic agriculture only small steps can lead to great results.

Organic agriculture; znanje; obrazovanje

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