France plans on doubling organic farmland area by 2017

(http://www.cornucopia.org) According to the country's Agricultural Minister, France wants to double the area of farmland devoted to organic agriculture by 2017 to meet growing consumer demand through local production.

France is the European Union's biggest agricultural producer and has lately seen rapid growth of organic framing, which, at the end of 2012, accounted for 3.7 percent of its farmland.

Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said that they want to increase the amount of research and training in growing techniques and the amount of organic food available in outlets.

"We're going to develop in such a way that we'll increase volume while maintaining the level of quality," he said. "I want the French (organic) sector to be a high-quality one."

The French government plans to raise annual subsidies for organic farmers from 90 million euros to an average of 160 million euros between 2014 and 2020.

Officials said that attracting organic farmers remains a challenge due to the high yields and profitable market prices seen with conventional grain.