Organic agricultural production on family farms in Croatia

Abstract

The Croatian organic products market is not developed as it is in economically more developed European Union (EU) countries. There are 2,319 registered organic producers on a total area of 50,054 ha. It was assumed that producers’ motives of organic products are predominantly noneconomic and that they sell most of products through direct sales channels and have positive attitudes toward producers’ associations. A survey was conducted with organic producers in Northwest Croatia. They (72.7%) switched from conventional to organic farming due to noneconomic motives. Due to an unorganized distribution network, products placement in markets mainly takes place locally (71.4%). Most producers are cooperating but in an informal way.