The South West has more organic farms than any other region in UK, according to figures released by the Soil Association.

The latest statistics show there are now almost 1,000 - 990 to be exact - registered organic farms in the South West.

That accounts for more than a quarter (26%) of all organic farms in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The switch to organic farms follows a huge surge in demand from consumers.

According to the Soil Association, it is now one of the fastest growing areas of the UK food and drink sector, with sales worth £920m.

Demand for organic food is outstripping supply

Sales of organic food and drink have increased by 15%, compared with 6% for the general grocery market.

The figures cover the year between April 2001 and April 2002.

Seventy-nine per cent of households made at least one organic purchase during the year and imports fell by 5% to 65% of sales.

Including land still in conversion, 729,550 hectares of farmland was managed organically by April 2002 - that is 4.3% of the agricultural land, and equivalent to four and a half times the size of Greater London.

The number of licensed organic farms nationwide increased by 5% from 3,691 to 3,865, and the average organic farm size has increased from 150 to 189 hectares.

Consumers are increasingly looking to buy organic meat as well as dairy and cereal produce.

However, there is still the big problem that demand is outstripping British supply, which means much of the organic produce in shops is imported.