Strengthening the awareness of Polish farmers to reduce the eutrophication impact from agriculture

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

Agriculture is considered to be one of the major sources of water pollution in rural areas. It is associated with the loss of nitrogen and phosphorus to water bodies. The leaching of nutrients and their runoff to ground and surface waters often adversely affects human health, living resources and aquatic ecosystems. Reducing water pollution and eutrophication caused by agricultural sources is the main objective of the EU Nitrates Directive and the EU Water Framework Directive, which aims to achieve good ecological status for waters. The magnitude of the nutrient losses is determined not only by climatological or soil factors, but also by farming practices. The project’s objective thus is to raise awareness among farmers and to persuade them to adopt farming practices that cause less damage to the aquatic environment.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of the 'AGROSAFE' project was to inform farmers about eutrophication and other environmental consequences of agricultural practices. This should have lead to wider implementation of good farming practices, reduction in the use of fertilisers and improvement of the aquatic environment, most notably in the area covered by the project. In the long term, it would improve the quality of the environment, particularly soil and water, as well as reducing air pollution caused by farms. The improvement of the environment would directly reduce the emission of nutrients from agricultural sources. Overall it would help to fulfill the recommendation of HelCom set out in the Baltic Sea Action Plan and reduce the Polish contribution to Baltic eutrophication.

Expected results The main result of the project was to increase farmers’ ecological awareness and to broaden their knowledge on good farming practices related to fertiliser use. As a result, the total amount of nutrients runoff would have been reduced and the quality of the aquatic environment would improve.

Specific results would have included:

Educational and media campaigns to attract public attention to the problem of eutrophication; the campaigns would produce and distribute two educational films, eight billboards, brochures and posters;

A project website focusing on problems of eutrophication. This would provide opportunities for an interactive exchange of views and ideas (including an online debate platform and newsletters);

Workshops for farmers focused on the consequences of eutrophication and on desirable agricultural practices regarding fertilisers. The other most important interventions that would be discussed were: i) land use and crop rotation; ii) animal waste and fertiliser use; iii) manure storage; iv) grazing systems and management; v) soil phosphorus management and erosion control; vi) groundwater level control (drainage); and vii) irrigation management;

10 practical demonstrations in various regions of Poland, showing appropriate and inappropriate farming practices (including chemical and biological tests performed in the field), accompanied by outdoor events for farming families;

10 roundtable discussions involving farmers, agriculture experts and other stakeholders, organised in various regions of Poland, to address the practical problems of nutrient reduction;

Educational activities designed for farmers’ children aged 6-10 (100 school visits by experts in the field of water pollution, mostly organised in rural areas that have water bodies that are particularly endangered by nitrogen pollution);

An improvement in the agricultural practices of 50% of farmers participating in the project;

An improvement in the farming practices of 2 000 farmers within five years of the project’s end; and

A 20% reduction in the amount of fertilisers used on areas covered by the project.

15% reduction of the total nitrogen load discharged to waters on two selected catchments covered by the project.

RESULTS

The project was early terminated by the EC on the 29/09/2013.The project therefore did not achieve its objectives and expected results.The project was early terminated by the EC on the 29/09/2013.The project therefore did not achieve its objectives and expected results.