Impact of RDP measures on the development of organic production in the Balearic Islands

Promoting production that generates healthy and environmentally friendly food is a key objective in the development model the EU promotes, among others, in the RDP. To achieve an increase in organic production, the Balearic Islands' 2014-2020 RDP has a specific measure that promotes organic production and includes criteria that favour this type of production in other measures not specifically designed to promote organic production. The objective of this analysis is to evaluate the RDP contribution of the Balearic Islands in supporting the development of organic production on the islands.

The report, published in 2022, analyses the organic measures and mechanisms promoted through the RDP. In particular, it examines the specific measure designed to support organic production (M11.2), how it has evolved over the RDP implementation period, what other measures incorporate organic production into its selection criteria and which aid is classified as organic. It also examines beneficiaries of the organic farming measure with other RDP measures to see which are most often combined on organic farms. Finally, it examines what other cross-cutting measures, such as training or LEADER, are contributing to the promotion of organic production.

One limitation to understanding the weight of RDP aid on organic producers in the Balearic Islands is the lack of detailed data on organic producers in the official regional register.

Another challenge is the difficulty in getting information on courses taught to make a more accurate analysis of the weight of organic production in training activities. In many cases, only the scanned documents are available, making it very laborious to carry out a quantitative analysis.

Similarly, more details on cooperation projects and LEADER projects would be desirable to assess the actual scope of these measures in the Balearic organic sector.

Within Spain, the Balearic Islands are the fourth autonomous community in percentage of ecological area, standing at 19.6%, much closer to the EU organic target than the whole of Spain.

Regarding consumers, only 2.48% of total food consumption is organic in Spain. There is, therefore, a need to work on promoting the consumption of this type of produce.

Among the main findings, the 2014-2020 RDP of the Balearic Islands shows clear support for organic production, incentivising it through aids for arable and livestock production under an organic scheme, but also by giving priority to this type of production when granting other aid such as investment support and support for the incorporation of young farmers.

Since the beginning of the programming period, there have been 386 beneficiaries of sub-Measure 11.2.1 and 130 of 11.2.2. Between the first and last year of commitments, the number of withdrawals is around 7-8%.

Almost 60% of the area registered in the Balearic Council of Organic Agricultural Production (CBPAE) and 36% of the pastures and fodder are applicants for sub-Measure 11.2.1. The distribution of CBPAE crops and that of 11.2.1 aid applicants is similar.

28% of Measure 11.2 beneficiaries also receive aid for investment in farms (Measure 4.1) while 20.4% of Measure 4.1 beneficiaries receive support for organic production. 10.7% of the beneficiaries of Measure 11.2 receive support for being young farmers, which makes these measures mutually reinforcing.

In addition to the measures specifically designed to promote organic production, the RDP is supporting this through other cross-cutting measures, such as training (Measure 1.1), cooperation (Measure 16) or LEADER (Measure 19), which are giving rise to interesting projects linked to organic products.