Written question asked by Ashok Kumar (Labour) on Monday, 16 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 18 January 2006. It was answered by Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour) on Wednesday, 1 February 2006 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Organic Farming

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farms have converted to Soil Association organic standards since 1997.

Answer: Soil Association Certification Ltd are one of the ten private bodies currently approved by DEFRA for the inspection and certification of organic farmers in the UK in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) 2092/91.In 1997 there were 1,027¹ organic farms in the UK of which 750² were certified by the Soil Association. Currently there are 4,016³ organic farms in the UK, of which 2,237³ are certified by the Soil Association."¹ Source—Soil Association Food and Farming Report 1999.""² Source—Soil Association.""³ Source—DEFRA Statistics."

Secondary information