The Italian organic sector has in fact significant growth opportunities in terms of supply, given the increase in demand that has continued for more than six years. However, organic surface has been substantially stationary for about ten years, while the number of organic farms, especially smaller ones, continues to shrink. According to the latest general agriculture census, average  UAA on Italian organic farms is 18 hectares, compared with 7.9 of the average UAA of all farms surveyed. As noted by the FADN, this contributes to a higher average profitability for organic farms compared to conventional ones, though the former have lower production intensity than the latter. The growing domestic demand, therefore, is also satisfied by increased imports, as reported by the data related only to imports from countries not in the equivalence scheme in 2007-2011. The consumption of fertilisers allowed in organic farming indicates that the sector can trigger sustainable processes throughout agriculture. With organic surface substantially unchanged, in fact, the continuous increase of fertiliser consumption is mainly due to their greater use by conventional farms, thus helping to reduce the overall negative impact on the environment by the agricultural sector. The increase of the quantity of feed distributed, however, is related to the increase in the number of organic livestock farms, though the level of farms’ self-supply remains high. As feed and seeds have a number of problems with regard to quality, availability and cost, that growth should lead to a greater focus by institutions for appropriate regulatory action.