According to an OIV publication released today (29 Sept 2021), the conversion rate of vineyards to organic production has “increased considerably” since the beginning of this century, although the total is still relatively small.
The OIV report – which considers certified organic vineyard areas producing wine and table grapes as well as raisins – recorded that there were 63 countries across all continents involved in organic viticulture in 2019, with the total global organic vineyard surface area estimated at 454,000 hectares, representing 6.2% of the world’s area under vines.
The publication also showed that the certified organic vineyard surface area increased by an average of 13% per year over the period 2005–2019, while the ‘non-organic’ vineyard area decreased by an average of 0.4% per year during the same period.
It recorded three distinct growth periods for the global expansion of organic viticulture, with the organic surface areas growing exponentially between 2005 and 2011 (+18% per year on average), only to slow down between 2011 and 2014 to an average annual rate of +4%, and then, from 2014 onwards, to increase again to an average of +8% per year.
Such overall growth, the OIV reported, “can be explained in large part by societal issues, particularly in relation to consumer health and environmental protection.”
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