Tunisia in biological agriculture

“Among all the countries in the world, Tunisia will be one of the pioneers in the field of biological agriculture” is what was stated by the Minister of Agriculture, Samir Taieb, at the end of the meeting of the National Commission for Agriculture, which was held in Tunis on 22 March 2019.

Minister Taieb also stated that “Tunisia, today, occupies the 23rd place worldwide for the agricultural area reserved for organic crops”.

In recent years, organic farming in Tunisia has seen a significant increase both in terms of agricultural areas reserved for crops and in terms of incoming.

The total amount of land dedicated to organic farming has increased from almost 216,000 hectares in 2012 to 336 thousand hectares in 2018.

The main organic products for which Tunisia is appreciated all over the world are olives and dates.

The olive oil produced in Tunisia is one of the best in the world so as to deserve the awarding of 16 medals, including 3 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze, during the 20th edition of the International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition Award 2019, which was held in Los Angeles, from 5 to 7 February 2019.

Today, Tunisian organic oil is exported to 54 international markets, especially in Europe (over 56 thousand tons a year) and the United States (35 thousand tons a year). Tunisia is therefore one of the most important oil exporters in the world, together with Spain and Italy.