Switzerland sees significant increase in land used for organic vegetable production
Area under organic vegetables in Switzerland has increased significantly
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Switzerland sees significant increase in land used for organic vegetable production
Vegetable growing is becoming increasingly important in Switzerland – especially organic farming. This is shown by new figures from the Federal Statistical Office. Since 1996, the area devoted to organic vegetables in Switzerland has increased six-fold to 3,160 hectares.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Anbaufläche von Biogemüse in der Schweiz hat stark zugenommen
Original
A quarter of the Swiss vegetable area is now farmed organically, according to the publication Vegetables in Switzerland published on Tuesday by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
Overall, the area of agricultural land used for vegetable cultivation in Switzerland has increased by 50% since 1996 to a total of 12,750 hectares. This corresponds to slightly more than the area of Lake Lucerne.
However, a FSO survey also shows that consumers don’t pay a lot of attention to organic produce when making purchasing decisions. In 2023, seasonality, regional or Swiss origin, and appearance were the most important factors when buying vegetables.
More
More
Switzerland leads the way in Europe on organic food
This content was published on
Even despite inflation, Swiss consumers’ willingness to buy organic products has led to growth in the market, an industry association has said.
This was followed by price and environmentally friendly packaging. “The fact that the products are organically grown was the least important purchase criterion,” the publication states.
Stable vegetable consumption
Vegetable consumption in Switzerland has remained stable in recent years at around 100 kilograms per person per year. Fruit vegetables such as tomatoes, zucchinis, and melons are by far the most consumed vegetables. They are followed by root and tuber vegetables such as carrots, fennel and beetroot. Only then do salads follow.
The self-sufficiency rate for vegetables in Switzerland was 44% in 2023. This is compared to a self-sufficiency of 54% in Switzerland for all foodstuff. The production value of vegetables in Switzerland amounted to around CHF758 million ($831 million) in 2023 – around six% of the production value of agriculture as a whole.
Adapted from German by DeepL/jdp
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
Ups and downs: Swiss drivers benefit from world’s only mobile bridge
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Vaud government removes Valérie Dittli from finance minister role
This content was published on
The Vaud government announced on Friday that it had removed Valérie Dittli from her role as finance minister in the western Swiss region.
Swiss attorney general takes over suspected RUAG MRO fraud probe
This content was published on
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has taken over the criminal investigation into the case of alleged fraud at RUAG MRO, a Swiss military technology firm.
Glaciers over 3,000m can be preserved via better climate protection
This content was published on
Stronger global climate protection could preserve more than a quarter of the ice in the Swiss Alps, says the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences (SCNAT).
Swiss UN rapporteur urges Washington to release Columbia University student
This content was published on
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Nicolas Levrat, and eight other legal experts, have called on the US to release Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil.
This content was published on
Nestlé plans to close its factory in Germany at Neuss, near Düsseldorf, by mid-2026. The Swiss food giant also plans to sell its Conow plant, near the Polish border, early next year.
UBS mulls moving HQ abroad, according to media report
This content was published on
The Swiss bank UBS could relocate its Swiss headquarters abroad if capital demand is not reduced, Bloomberg News reports.
SWISS cancels flights to London’s Heathrow Airport after power station fire
This content was published on
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) says it has cancelled all flights from Geneva and Zurich to Heathrow Airport on Friday following a huge fire at a power sub-station.
Swiss government to deport rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan
This content was published on
The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) is changing its asylum policy for Afghanistan. Single men with rejected applications can now be deported.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.