The effect of the pandemic on organic agriculture

The Cyprus International University (CIU) Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technologies Vice Dean Prof. Dr. Ahsen Işık Özgüven, expressed that many countries in the world are reviewing their national agricultural policies due to the pandemic, and that they have made a decision to increase organic agricultural areas.

Prof. Dr. Özgüven mentioned that in this process, the issue of food hygiene gained importance from the stages of seeding, to serving to the consumer. "Therefore, it was understood that countries that are not self-sufficient in food production, including hygiene, may face hunger and lack of food in the event of disasters, such as the coronavirus," she said.

Expressing that food supply is necessary for the continuity of people's life due to COVID-19, Özgüven pointed out that many countries took measures to continue agricultural activities and food production one after another, and that support was increased for small producers.

"The pandemic featured the importance of agriculture and food once again."
Prof. Dr. Özgüven emphasized that additional support has been brought to the agenda, in order to meet the agricultural production and food needs in the European Union (EU), which is the most common region of COVID-19 currently. Farmers who are in a difficult situation due to the pandemic have come to the fore, stretching the administrative practices of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Commission.

It was stated by Özgüven that the EU aims to increase the organic farming areas from 2.5% to 25% by 2030 with the "New Green Deal" agreement, by implementing a new policy. "Likewise, it is aimed to reduce the use of chemical pesticides by 50% and the use of fertilizers by 20%".

Stating that organic food has entered a very serious growth trend all over the world due to the pandemic, Özgüven said that according to the data of the Organic Trade Association, the US organic food market is expected to grow by 20%.

Özgüven pointed out that Asia and Europe are also in a rapid growth trend in the sector, exemplifying that there was an increase of 20% in some organic platforms in India.

Özgüven also noted that according to expert opinions, consumers are expected to turn to healthy nutrition in order to strengthen their immune systems due to the epidemic, and that it is expected to reach a market of 150 billion dollars within five years.