Constraints on the expansion of organic farming in highly productive regions

Uptake of organic farming falls short of stated sustainability targets, particularly in highly productive regions where adoption could mitigate environmental impacts of intensive farming. Several hypotheses have been advanced to explain the constraints on adoption, but these have not been assessed within an integrative, interdisciplinary framework. The objective was to develop a conceptual framework linking existing hypotheses on the constraints to the uptake of organic farming in highly productive agricultural regions, to review the supporting evidence and, based on this, to propose solutions for increasing adoption. An interdisciplinary team developed a nested hierarchical framework of ecological, agronomic, and socio-economic processes influencing adoption of organic farming. They critically examined existing literature in relation to hypotheses and identified potential solutions to enhance adoption. We present a nested hypothesis hierarchy of interrelated constraints on organic conversion with special relevance to low uptake in highly productive regions dominated by arable crops. Certification constraints reflect fundamental needs for agroecological solutions for crop protection and nutrient supply, which are difficult to address in the absence of animal husbandry. The certification constraints give rise to agronomic constraints, driven by the greater divergence between organic and conventional crop rotations in such regions. While agronomic constraints are solvable, their solutions are limited by socio-economic constraints , including higher knowledge demands and opportunity costs for organic farmers, which current area-based policy-payments do not fully offset. Our review finds evidence for all constraint types, however, in highly productive areas the certification constraint need for alternative nutrient resources dominates, with downstream consequences for agronomic and socio-economic constraints. We demonstrate how our framework can guide solutions across the nested hierarchy: alleviating certification constraints through ecological intensification and alternative nutrient sources; addressing agronomic constraints by diversifying crop rotations; and overcoming socio-economic constraints by strengthening extension services and improving the spatial targeting of policy payments. Finally, we argue that persistent knowledge gaps call for stronger trans-disciplinary research to bridge the scale-related disconnect between academic research and farmer needs, as general approaches and small-scale experiments often fail to inform on-the-ground implementation. Given that expansion of organic farming in the EU is stalling, there is substantial interest in identifying strategies to enhance its uptake, particularly in regions where adoption remains limited. This study provides a basis for future research, informing management decisions, and guiding policy development for fostering the expansion of organic farming, and hence advance the overarching goal of increasing agriculture’s sustainability. • A nested constraint hierarchy explains low uptake of organic farming in productive areas. • Ameliorating constraints high in the hierarchy solve lower order constraints. • In productive areas the need for alternative nutrient resources is critical. • Based on our nested constraint hierarchy we propose solutions to increase organic uptake. • Trans-disciplinary research and collaborative approaches needed to close knowledge gaps.