John Craven presented a show on October 11 which included an item on the decline in organic food sales and what the organic industry could do to revitalise consumer interest.

But the Crop Protection Association (CPA) said the programme ‘failed to present a fair and balanced view on the benefits of organic compared to conventional food production’.

During the show Mr Craven interviewed a representative of the Organic Trade Board, a spokesman for leading organic brand Duchy Originals and the branding expert Marcel Knobil, who was given the task of coming up with a new marketing campaign to promote organic food scales. 

However, the programme did not include any interviews with representatives from the non-organic food industry.

An independent review of the programme by CARMA Global Media Analysts, commissioned by the CPA, said Countryfile portrayed organic food in a ‘very favourable manner’ while non-organic food was portrayed ‘neutrally’.

Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the CPA, said: “The BBC needs to be reminded of its obligations to licence payers to remain impartial on all controversial issues.”

Mr Dyer has now written to Sir Michael Lyons, the chairman of the BBC Trust, to request more balanced coverage in the future.