THE MAIN deterrent to Irish farmers switching to organic production is the belief they would be producing a product that only rich people could afford to buy.
This view persists despite an 82 per cent growth in the value of the organic market here over the past two years, to more than €100 million.
The Teagasc National Organic Conference in Tullamore heard that 75 per cent of conventional farmers expressed a very low or low intention to go organic.
The researchers, Doris Laepple and Trevor Donnellan, from Teagasc Rural Economy Research Unit, found 6 per cent indicated considerable interest in going organic within the next five years.
They concluded that under current circumstances, large-scale conversion to organic farming by beef and lamb producers within the next five years to meet the Government target of 5 per cent of land farmed organically by 2012, was uncertain.
