Organic Farming Versus Interest of the State for its Support

摘要

Industrialization of agriculture is associated with the creation of negative externalities of intensive agriculture. The situation has developed pressure to create alternatives to intensification, such as organic farming, which role is defined in Council Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007: consumer demand for healthy and safe food and the public interest in protecting the environment and the interest of the state in the health of its inhabitants, even though organic farming is a minor alternative and is necessary to support conditions for its existence. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the implementation of state support in the field of organic farming from legislative, political, institutional and financial perspectives, and to identify the main incentives as well as the barriers to the development of organic farming. In this paper we used in particular qualitative methods of survey (interviews with relevant stakeholders). In order to get a holistic picture, an analysis of the economic situation of organic farmers was conducted based on the available data. Based on the results of the paper it can be stated that although farmers have an interest in producing their products (plants and animals) in organic farming, the Slovak Republic has not created sufficient conditions to increase the share of organic farming in agriculture.