Proponents and opponents of lily cultivation. They faced each other again this week in the Provincial Council (PS). The reason this time was the plans of the Drenthe lily growers to grow more sustainably and to reduce the use of agricultural poisons to the level of ‘conventional arable farming’. The coalition wants to invest 750,000 euros in this. But opponents say the plans are too vague and the goals are not set.
The public gallery in the provincial government building was completely filled. Normally mainly with opponents, now many farmers were also present. And of course, as always, the lily debate was broader than just the growers’ intention to do things more sustainably.
Speaker Margot Faber argued for ‘healthy’ agriculture, with not fewer but more farmers, free of crop protection products and especially the large agro-industry. “It only delays more sustainable farmers with less agricultural poison, it is the same tactic as the tobacco industry. You give big earners a bag of money to do just a little less badly,” she told the coalition. “Farmers and insects are getting sick. There are hardly any bees left.”
Former GP Dick de Groot from Zuidwolde pointed out the striking difference between the number of Parkinson’s patients in rural doctor’s practices and those in a city like Zwolle. “Parkinson’s is now a recognized occupational disease in France among winegrowers who sprayed pesticides for years.”
And what does reducing crop protection products to the amount of ‘conventional agriculture’ mean, asked commenter Kees Riem Vis. “Is that 7 kilos per hectare as with corn, 15 kilos as with onions or 25 kilos as with seed potatoes?”