!!!biologische Landwirtschaft

Organic Farming: Organic, or environmentally responsible farming, in 
Austria comprises all forms of farming controlled by a number of 
certifying associations, such as Ernte, Demeter, and others, which 
were first initiated by individual Austrian farmers. Since 1983, a 
standard for certified organic farming has been laid down in the 
"Austrian Food Standards", and since July 1, 1994 by EU 
regulation 2092/91, prescribing the following main principles: 
Optimisation and recycling of the farm's own resources (e.g., field 
forage and growth of leguminosae, use of fertilisers produced on the 
farm itself), use of naturally occurring regulation mechanisms (for 
example, in preventive plant protection: diversified cultivation of 
the land and rotation of crops), abstention from the use of 
chemical/synthetic pesticides and easily soluble chemical fertilisers, 
use of benign methods of pest and disease control for soil, crops and 
animals, and animal-friendly husbandry. Organic farming is considered 
to be the form of agriculture with the highest degree of ecologisation 
and is thus financially supported by subsidies from the EU, the 
national government and the provinces. In 1997, there were 
approximately 20,000 organic farmers in Austria, covering an area of 
335,700 hectares, accounting for more than 8% of farms and 
representing the highest density of organic farms in Europe.

!Literature
G. Herrmann and G. Plakolm, Oekologischer Landbau - 
Grundwissen fuer die Praxis, 1991.


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