Land Resources in Organic Agriculture: Trends and Challenges in the Twenty-First Century from Global to Croatian Contexts

Organic agriculture (OA) is a continuously growing global concept that emphasizes the use of sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices. By adopting OA, it is possible to improve ecosystems services, increase biodiversity, decrease environmental pollution, reduce carbon footprints and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, generating food that is free from harmful residues of agrochemicals, thereby enhancing food safety and security. This study provides a comprehensive review of the latest insights on the global utilization of land resources in OA, focusing particularly on some EU countries that experienced a notable and rapid progress in organic farming during the past two decades. With negligible 1.6% (75 Mha) of global cropland is currently dedicated to OA, there is ample opportunity to expand the adoption of OA and realize its multi-beneficial potential for farmers (by premium prices), and consumers (by healthier and nutritious food). The importance of OA has been recognized by the most recent EU agro-environmental policies and green strategies, with an ambitious goal to have at least 25% of agroecosystems under organic management by 2030. Despite numerous financial supports and a multifold increase in OA land area, many member states are unlikely to achieve this goal, including Croatia, which currently has a share of only 8% (~109,000 ha) of lands in OA. Furthermore, converting conventional land to organic farming has not always led to an increase in value-added final OA products. EU policies related to OA have been focused on the area of land cultivated organically, rather than overall production performance, and financial subsidies have been essential to achieve this policy. Therefore, some of critical obstacles and challenges for OA under rising pressures due to global climate change, public health and geopolitical crises need to be managed by specifically designed policies and regulations, which would contribute to more sustainable OA, i.e., food safety and security.