Organic Bread Wheat Production and Market in Europe

This chapter is a first attempt to analyse bottlenecks and challenges of European organic bread wheat sector involving technical, political and market issues. From 2000, the organic grain market has largely increased in Western Europe. To balance higher consumer demand there is a need to increase organic production by a new transition and technical improvement. Bread wheat is grown in a variety of crop rotations and farming systems where four basic organic crop production systems have been defined. Weeds and nitrogen deficiency are considered to be the most serious threat inducing lowest grain yield under organic production. The choice of cultivar, green manure, fertilization and intercropping legumes – grain or forage – are efficient ways to obtain high grain quality and quantity.