Abu Dhabi: The UAE has recorded a 53 per cent increase in the organic farm products over the past six months, the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) revealed on Sunday.

According to ESMA data, the number of organic farm products registered with the authority has jumped from 1,240 items in the last quarter last year to 2,356 produce until April.

An additional space of 1.8 million square meters was cultivated for organic farming during this period, producing about 1,116 new organic products in the UAE’s markets, said Abdullah Al Maeeni, ESMA’s Director General.

Some of the UAE’s home grown organic products include vegetables, fruits and dates.

He added that cultivation of organic products is an ideal way to diversify national investments in the agricultural and productive sectors.

“ESMA supports this trend through the issuance of conformity certificates to organic farms to qualify these products for export outside the UAE and to open new markets to UAE producers,” said Al Maeeni.

ESMA issues an ‘organic’ label in the certificate of conformity to the organic farm, stating that its products comply with the standards of organic products according to the UAE conformity assessment programme ‘ECAS,’ according to ministerial Resolution No. 84 of 2012.