Ekologinės žemdirbystės sistema Lietuvoje: sertifikavimas, vadyba, plėtra ir perspektyvos
Organic farming system in Lithuania: certification, management, development and prospects

Summary/Abstract: There is analyzed the current state of organic production and certification system in Lithuania. There is in Lithuania one certification body PI Ekoagros, which was founded in 1997, 14th of March, and its founders are Ministries of Agriculture and Health care of Lithuanian Republic. Community of organic farming “Gaja” was responsible for the certification of organic farms until then. Ekoagros is accredited by the National Accreditation Bureau since 2005 under the Ministry of Environment; in 2010 it was reaccredited, expanded scope of accreditation for five years. Currently PI Ekoagros working in the fields of certification of organic crop production, animal husbandry, beekeeping, fishery, wild collection, food products and approval of auxiliary materials for organic production. There are separate approved certification systems, which strictly are kept during the certification process. Lithuania had different labels for organic products, and now they labelled in accordance with EU and national legislation. Lithuania's accession to the European Union as well as considerable increased compensation payments for organic farming accelerated expansion of organic farms. In 2004 there has been certified 1178 organic farm or by 478 units and 68.3 percent more compared with 2003. Number of organic farms was growing until 2007, then was certified 2855 organic farms. Then, the observed number of organic farms took a downward trend. This was affected by the change in compensation payments order and significant decrease of payments. Area of organic land, unlike a number of farms, continued to grow. The amount of compensation payments had a significant impact on the development of organic farming in Lithuania. Organic production in Lithuania is a viable agricultural industry and has good prospects for expansion. There are significantly lower yields of cereals, legumes and rapeseed in organic farms than the average Lithuanian farms. Only in buckwheat organic farms received higher yields than the average in Lithuania. Processing of organic production is prominent in the system of organic farming. The number of enterprises involved in the processing of organic products is increasing. There were certified 17 of them in 2002, while in 2011 – 82. Accordingly, the number of carried out activities increased from 17 in 2002 to 90 in 2011. There are two certified catering company. Organic production process in Lithuania checked strictly in accordance with established procedures and legal norms. According to the rules of organic agriculture certification body annually by at least 15 percent of all operators carrying out further checks on the spot, and every year from at least 3 percent all submitted applications for traders, take samples, give priority to the group assigned to risky entities. Different year, different set of points various violations and apply different levels of sanctions. According the PI Ekoagros data in 2011 because the unauthorized use of materials in organic production there was uncertified 16 farms (1224 ha) and 3 processing operators.

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