Sample of the poll: 1 000 men and women, 18 – 60 years old, with various education, marital and social status and income level, citizens of Minsk, Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno and Mogilev.
The sample is representative for urban people of Belarus at the age 18 and older.
 The study was performed by Center «SATIO» on order of Public Association “Ecohome”.

 The main results are:
 95,4% of respondents would like to buy organic products

 89,4% of potential consumers of organic products consider that organic food ifs healthy.
 More than one half of potential consumers (55,8%) are ready to pay more for organic products as compared with conventional ones.

 What factors are the most important for you when buying organic food?

 Where would you like to buy organic products?

Now intensive agricultural production is the major direction of agricultural economics in Belarus. It demands significant expenses for labor force and machinery, as well as for fuel, power costs to produce a unit of production are 3 to 4 times higher than in the USA.

Negative consequences of intensive agriculture have become clear:

Contamination of lands, water, and atmosphere with mineral fertilizers, pesticides, heavy metals. The share of agriculture in pollution of the atmosphere with СО2 comprises about 23 percent. About 830 thousand ha of agricultural grounds are contaminated with industrial waste, 6 percent of agricultural grounds are contaminated with biogenic elements in the concentrations exceeding the maximally permissible rates (MPC). The situation is aggravated with the fact that about 23 percent of the territory underwent radioactive contamination as a result of Chernobyl accident.

Degradation of soils (chemical, physical, and biological). In Belarus, degraded and erosion hazardous soils include 2.6 million ha of arable lands (on the whole, 4 million ha or 19 percent of the overall territory of the country). As of the present moment, 1.45 million ha of peat bogs are drained, including 1.1 million ha for agricultural needs. The peat layer is rapidly degrading, and is destroyed in some cases.

Thickening of arable lands. Excessive usage of machinery for processing of soils led to their thickening and violation of its structure, which strengthens the processes of erosion of lands.  Accumulation of toxic substances including heavy metals in foodstuffs.

Appearance of persistent races of vermin and pathogenic agents as a result of broad application of pesticides, which led to the appearance of a “catch 22”: application of pesticides is the cause of persistence, and the dosage shall be increased or new means of protection shall be developed, to which vermin and pathogenic agents adapt again, and their numbers are growing again.

Increase of contamination of fields with weeds due to long-term application of herbicides with narrow scope.

Decrease of yield and increase of costs of agricultural production.

Social problems of villages in our country are not less serious than the ecological ones. Demographic situation is very unfavorable, as the youth moves to towns and cities, the birth rate is extremely low. Despite high level of unemployment, there very little qualified labor force in villages. Salaries are low in this field of economics, and significant funds are needed to create your own farming estate.

There has not been a land reform in Belarus. The new Land Code was adopted in 1999, in compliance with which all lands of agricultural purpose were assigned as the state property. There is only private property for a land lot with a house (not more than 0.15 ha) and for homestead land up to 1 ha allowed. Citizens have the right to rent up to 2 ha of lands for personal farming purposed and own a land lot up to 1 ha in private property. Farmers can receive up to 100 ha of land into usage but not into property.

The government does not create favorable conditions for development of private farms. The law “On Peasant Farming Economics” was adopted on February, 18, 1991, revised on July, 19, 2005. The law was imperfect and caused serious critics from farmers: equal rights of farmers with other agricultural producers were not provided for, private property for land was not provided for either, the procedure of allocation of lands was not established. The law did not provide for a possibility to provide farming cooperatives and associations.

In accordance with Decree of the President No.193 of April, 1, 1998, farmers shall conclude agreements with local authorities, in which they must provide for conditions of land usage, structure of production, types and volumes of goods and production resources, which will be produced and purchased. This draft agreement is being prepared by governmental authorities. Such practice hampers a farmer’s work. Not all farmers conclude such agreements, but unless they conclude it, they cannot count on financial support.

According to assessments, farmers receive 7 to 10 times less state support compared to other agricultural enterprises. Governmental program of support of private farms is almost terminated. Most farmers, who stopped their businesses, did it because of lack of financing. Credits for farmers are provided at 12 percent per annum, but taking surcharges into account (credit insurance, rate of increase of prices), as a result it comprises 20 to 30 percent.

According to assessments of the World Bank experts, contemporary macro-economical policy in Belarus is not favorable for development of efficient agriculture. Agricultural markets are under control of the state and local authorities. Price regulation is combined with administrative limitations (licensing, etc.).

On the whole, taxation does not favor the development of agricultural production, though agricultural producers have taxation preferences. At the same time, agriculture is taxed with indirect taxes with the help of price regulation. Due to the applicable policy, revenues of producers are limited to 2 percent monthly, while expenses are not limited. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food and local authorities set extreme prices for agricultural production. Export of foodstuffs is monopolized by the state.

Informational and statistical reporting does not provide for implementation of deep economic analysis, validity of statistical data makes experts, particularly those of the World Bank, doubt it.

In Belarus, there is administrative control system, including agriculture. The operations of the agricultural sector are controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The reply on ecological agriculture in Belarus brought the reply that development of ecological agriculture is not the priority direction in Belarus.

When quality rating of scientific workings, only internal but not international standards are used. But there are activities of “environmental compliance” of the scientific working results, e.g. the decrease of negative impact on environment. There is no holistic approach to organic agriculture; it is not considered as a system, but as a set of methodologies.

The declaration of the necessity to “ecologization” the agriculture and to use “ecological methods” very often occurs in the publications of leading Belarusian scientists in special press. But it is not the matter of organic agriculture, it is about the attempts to improve the existing agricultural practice and to decrease the negative impact on the environment. This is no doubt the positive tendency, although the impression is that it is formal “ecologization”, which is only on paper.

It is noted in publications that “ecologization” of agricultural production in Belarus has real prospects and is preferable in comparison with further intensification owing to the compared low density of population and better provision with agricultural holdings per head in comparison with other European countries. On examination of modern agricultural problems the authors take into account the social factor.

There was an article of the Presidium Vice-chairman of the NAS of Belarus V.G.Gusakov “The Agricultural Ecological Strategy in Belarus. What Shall It Be?” in the magazine called “Belarusian Agriculture (No.9 and 10 of 2005)”, where the pro-ecological and systemic approach to the development of agriculture is displayed. As the “most important and prospective activities in the context of new agricultural policy” there was among the other the official introduction of State Bio Label for the marking of foodstuff, the creation of huge special zones for the production of ecologically clean products with the use of extensive inferior techniques in the country, the improvement of management system by refusing from the centralized administration methods and the transition to the economic and legal control methods, the provision of stable socio-economic development of agriculture. The author writes that it is necessary to adopt the “Ecological Agriculture” state program.

The publications devoted to the practical methods of the organic agricultural conduction, which is seen as a system are innumerous. First of all we shall note the book which was published by Belarusian-German joint venture “Hope-XXI Century” which is called “Practical Recommendations for the Ecologically Clean Agricultural Conduction in the Republic of Belarus” (the authors are S.A.Tarasenko, A.V.Sviridov). It has the recommendations how to grow ecologically clean vegetable products, the short description of the rules and norms of the ecological agriculture.

Thus, in Belarus there are not sufficient scientific researches in the field of the organic agriculture and there is no holistic approach to it, but it has the scientific potential which can adopt the international experience and create its own methology which will be adapted to our country’s conditions. But even now to the less extent the scientific workings of the alternative agricultural methods, biological methods of the plant protection in particular, are financed and supported by the State. The research and methods are necessary not only in crop production and cattle breeding, but also in economy and other related branches.