The province wants to restrict the use of pesticides in agriculture. This is evident from the draft version of the ‘Action Plan Plant Protection Resources’ that was made public this month. Among other things, it can be read that a ban on harmful means in vulnerable areas is in the making.
The concerns about the effect of agricultural poison on nature, water quality and health of people have been increasing for a long time. For example, the damage to vulnerable nature cannot be obvious and extra purification is already required at two drinking water locations. “At several locations, crop protection products were found in the water in too high the water,” the action plan says.
In the meantime, the province expects farmers to go to agricultural poison more and more often due to climate change. Due to changed weather conditions, new diseases and pests can come to the Netherlands. Pesticides due to drought or heavy rainfall can also be less effective, so that more is needed.
Get and prohibit
At the moment there is no clear picture of the use of pesticides and the possible negative consequences at the provincial level. The province wants to change that by mapping these matters, partly literally.
In areas where drinking water is extracted, vulnerable nature and also near residential areas, playgrounds and care facilities, the province investigates whether hard measures can be taken there. For example, a ban on certain pesticides, mandatory organic farming and more spray -free zones along surface water are considered. Currently, only three percent of the agricultural land in Brabant is in biological use.
The province previously announced that from 2027 it only wants to rent land to sustainable farmers. This means that no pesticides and fertilizer can be used at all on that provincial lease land.
Other cultivation
The use of pesticides in the cultivation of crops outside the vulnerable areas must also be less. The college wants to achieve this, among other things, by encouraging people to grow other crops, in particular species that are more resistant to fungi and diseases. This requires less harmful pesticides.
The Provincial Executive also establishes hope for robots, artificial intelligence and sensors with which pesticides can be used very precisely. For example, a farmer will soon be able to spray one sick plant or weed with a robot or drone, instead of the entire field.
According to the province, a ban on the cultivation of specific crops in which harmful substances are used, such as lilies, is virtually impossible. The province is authorized to do this, but may only use these measures if the negative consequences actually come through the cultivation of a crop and therefore not of a pesticide. In the future, growers can continue in the future without the harmful substances.
Provincial States must discuss and approve the plans of the college. It is not that new rules will then immediately start. According to the college, the introduction will take a few years.