SALES of organic food have increased by more than 10pc in the last year, according to the Soil Association.

Retail sales of organic food are now worth £1.12bn and growing by £2m a week, twice the rate of growth of the general grocery market.

According to the Soil Association's Organic Food and Farming Report 2004 - the most comprehensive review of the organic sector - the proportion of organic food sold through the supermarkets has fallen by 1pc for the second year running.

Increasingly, consumers are turning directly to farmers; sales through box schemes, farmers' markets or farm shops have soared by 16pc and are now worth £108m a year.

Scotland continues to have more than half of all the organic land in the UK, while the South-West of England is home to more than a fifth of all organic farms and food companies.

The popularity of organic baby food continues to grow, with sales rising by nearly 6pc, compared with a slight decline in the non-organic baby food market. Nearly half of the baby food sold is now organic.

About a million more organic chickens were sold last year, increasing sales by 30pc to a total of 4.5m birds, despite relatively little promotion by supermarkets. The association predicts that organic poultry will continue to be the fastest growing area of organic livestock in the coming year.

Almost no organic chicken is imported, compared with 10pc of non-organic chicken, but this is not a reflection of the organic market in general.

Although imports of organic food have steadily fallen over the last few years, the Soil Association found imports had remained static at 56pc in 2003-04.

A fifth of the organic meat sold in the UK is imported, while potatoes, carrots, onions, apples and pears are still being imported by some leading retailers, even when in season here.

This is despite a Government target set to encourage retailers to ensure that imports fall to 30pc by 2010.

Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, said: "The organic market is thriving and is being driven by consumers who want to buy fresh, local, good-quality seasonal food directly from the farmer.

"The leading supermarkets must take note of the public's wishes and increase the amount of locally-sourced organic food in store, which should come from small and medium-sized farms."

The association says Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's and Waitrose have done most to reduce their reliance on imports and stock more organic food from UK farmers.

However, the organisation warns that slashing the price of organic products to expand sales does not work convincingly and can have serious consequences for producers. "If supermarket buyers pay their suppliers significantly less, the small, mixed family farms that are the bedrock of the organic movement can no longer afford to supply them," said Mr Holden.

* The Yorkshire Organic Centre in Skipton has successfully helped St Aidan's secondary school in Harrogate to link up with local suppliers so pupils can enjoy good quality organic beef.

It also worked to identify outlets for organic cereal and to help dairy farmers set up their own processing units. It is working to increase the number of processing facilities available for organic poultry in response to local demand.