Organic sheep farming in Iceland, current state and future prospects

• Main Author: Vazquez Catala, Livia
• Other Authors: Fanlo Grasa, Raül Joaquim
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya 2014
• Subjects: Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria agroalimentària::Ramaderia::Bestiar oví; Sheep > Iceland; Oví; Ecologic; Islàndia; Bestiar oví > Islàndia; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2099.1/20754

Sheep farming in Iceland has historically been the main agricultural occupation and the basic mean for sustenance and is still of great importance to the rural population and the culture of the country. This paper aims to review the current situation and prospects of organic sheep farming in the country, as part of a sustainable varied sheep production. This review has been based on interviews to several agents involved in agricultural production and organic farming, visits to the farmers currently producing under the organic certification and a thorough revision of the literature. Organic sheep production in Iceland is very small (in 2013 there are 9 organic sheep farmers of the 1826 sheep farmers in the country), has a very limited market and gathers little interest from the producers and the institutions. There are a few technical problems to overcome, especially that of securing good fodder of quality and in quantity without artificial fertilizer, and there is no research being done on organic management techniques and cultivation methods. There are nonetheless great possibilities for developing a healthy organic sheep production based on the Icelandic traditional system. The Icelandic sheep breed is strong and well adapted, the country's breeding system and database is very good and well developed and the improvement of the national flock is constant. Iceland's isolation and strict disease prevention programs have been very successful in ensuring a very secure country with little disease risk. All this factors make a great scenario for breeding sheep organically with minimal inputs and costs. Also, the fact that lamb rearing is already based on grazing natural pastures, and there is no usage of pesticides or herbicides in fodder production, makes the steps to transition to organic minimal. A Islàndia, la cria d'oví ha sigut històricament la principal activitat agrícola i la base de la seva subsistència, i és encara de gran importància per a la població rural i la cultura del país. En aquest treball es ...