Organic agriculture as a factor of sustainable development of Žumberak

Ekološka poljoprivreda je sustav poljoprivrednog gospodarenja koji teži ekološki čistoj i gospodarski isplativoj poljoprivrednoj proizvodnji. Iako u Hrvatskoj ekološka poljoprivredna nije razvijena kao u ostalim država, posljednjih godinama vidljiv je rast proizvodnje ekološki uzgojenih proizvoda kao i porast broja ekoloških proizvođača. Budući da je Žumberak područje koje se nalazi nedaleko Zagreba i drugih manjih gradova u neposrednoj blizini, te na tom prostoru ne postoje veliki onečišćivači zraka, karakteriziraju ga čist i miran krajolik i ugodna priroda, te samim time postoje preduvjeti za razvoj ekološke poljoprivrede. Ipak, snažna depopulacija stanovništva koja traje dugi niz godina, zastarjela i loša prometna mreža, te reljef, negativno utječu na mogućnost razvijanja ekološke poljoprivrede.Organic agriculture is an agricultural management system that strives for environmentally clean and economically viable agricultural production. Although organic agriculture has not been developed in Croatia as in other countries, in recent years, the growth of ecologically produced products and the increase in the number of ecological producers has been seen. Since Žumberak is an area not far from Zagreb and other smaller cities in its’ vicinity, and there are no large air pollutants, Žumberak is characterized by clean and peaceful landscape and pleasant nature, so there are preconditions for the development of organic agriculture. However, strong depopulation that lasts for many years, the obsolete and poor transport network, and the relief, negatively affect the possibility of developing organic agriculture