Critics say a decision to withdraw £3.1m of support from the organic sector in Wales will have serious economic and environmental consequences.

Wales currently has the highest proportion of land area certified as organic in the UK.

At the end of 2023, funding that organic farmers currently receive for delivering environmental benefits is due to stop.

The Welsh Government has made no provision to replicate this support in the interim agri-environment scheme for 2024.

According to the Welsh Organic Forum this decision poses an “existential threat” to hundreds of farm businesses.

In an open letter to First Minister Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Organic Forum, said: “We are shocked that the Welsh Government looks set to reject a globally recognised beacon of sustainable farming.

“A withdrawal of support for organic farming will have serious economic and environmental consequences in Wales.

“The decision poses an existential risk to the Welsh food and farming sector’s ability to deliver to our climate, nature and food security obligations.’’

The letter suggested that the move is likely to result in a mass exodus of organic farmers, inflicting long-lasting damage on the sector.

Carmarthenshire organic dairy farmer Haydn Evans, who chairs the Welsh Organic Forum and is head of farming at Soil Association Cymru, described the withdrawal of funding as “astounding’’.

Decades of the government’s own investment in healthy soils, nature-rich farms and pioneering food businesses “now looks set to squandered’’, said Mr Evans.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Farmers in Wales, including organic farmers, have access to a range of support schemes, including an interim agri-environment scheme that will open later this year.

“Organic farming and its practices are consistent with the principles of our proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme, due to start in 2025.

“There will be a further Sustainable Farming Scheme consultation before the end of this year, before final decisions on the scheme are made.”