PEsticide Reduction using Friendly and Environmentally Controlled Technologies

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The PERFECT LIFE project gets its name from the acronym PEsticide Reduction using Friendly and Environmentally Controlled Technologies. It is funded with the contribution of the LIFE financial instrument of the EU and it has been running since September 2018.

The main goal of this project is to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve the reduction of the environmental contamination of pesticides and their metabolites in the air using Optimal Volume Rate Adjustment tools (OVRA) and Spray Drift Reducing Tools (SDRT) which will lead to a decrease of the pesticide risk for fauna, flora and human beings. Farmers and pesticide applicators can use those tools to reduce and optimize the amount of sprayed product saving money and reducing the spray drift losses to the atmosphere, without affecting harvest.

This project has demonstrative and disseminative purposes. To accomplish their objectives the researchers, technicians, farmers, and the rest of the participants of the project, have been working so hard since the beginning, as can be seen in the pictures took during a field campaign performed in a Valencia’s citrus orchard.

    

Besides, in the next pictures, it can be seen the laboratory experiments that the Coordinator of the project (CEAM) carries out to research the European PHOtoREactor (EUPHORE) outdoor atmospheric simulation chambers for testing the atmospheric lifetime of pesticides, its degradation products like emulsifiers, solvents, carriers, aerosol propellants, coadjutants and, tensioactives.

To see more info about this interesting project, visit their webpage (perfectlifeproject.eu) and read the agricultural section of the yearbook of the ‘ElMundo’ national newspaper (just in Spanish language).

https://www.guiadeprensa.com/suplementos/anuario-diciembre-2019-el-mundo/proyecto-perfect-life/

“Pollutant Photo-NF remediation of Agro-Water”

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Micropollutants (industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors, biocides, pesticides, hormones), emerge as a new class of bioactive and persistent contaminants, that cannot be fully eliminated in conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs). Novel solutions for end of pipe removal of micropollutants before reaching a WWTP or retrofit a WWTP and allow for water reuse are needed.

The key objective of the LIFE17 ENV/GR/000387 LIFE PureAgroH2O project is to develop and demonstrate a novel purification system for the sustainable management of the end-of-the-pipe wastewater effluents generated in fruit & vegetable industry, the prevention of losses of various inorganic and organic contaminants to the environment and the recycle/reuse of the purified water. To achieve the objective, a close-to- market, patented water purification system with the ability to effectively recycle 15 m3/day of real agro-wastewater will be developed demonstrated and commercialised.

  1. Description of LIFE PureH2OAgro Technology– Photocatalytic Nanofiltration Reactor (PNFR).

The PNFR technology/reactor, integrates synergistically the most effective micropollutant abatement technologies such as photocatalysis (P) and nanofiltration (NF), in one smartly designed membrane reactor (R) module-PNFR that will retrofit a Fruit & Vegetable Processing Industry for pesticides removal

Description: The most advanced visible light activated, TiO2 based photocatalysts (VLA), are deposited and stabilised on the shell and lumen surfaces of NF (alumina) monoliths. The highly innovative aspect of the reactor design is that it achieves remote irradiation of the monolith’s shell and lumen photocatalytic surfaces while conducting the tangential flow nanofiltration process. Advanced optical technologies such as bundles of side glowing optical fibers coupled with arrays of high-power LEDs and Fresnel lenses effectuate the photocatalytic action. Further enhancement of the photocatalytic effect is achieved by incorporating additional flow channels in the shell side of the monoliths and hosting and effectively irradiating polymeric fibers with TiO2 powder embedded into their matrix (TiO2 based mixed matrix fibers (Ti-MMFs).

The synergetic effect: The synergy in PNFR technology can be comprehended as follows:

  • Photocatalysis enhances the NF effectiveness and operation capabilities.
  • Nanofiltration enhances the photocatalytic effect.
  1. Prospects for future applications of the PNFR technology.

Photocatalysis is much more efficient than ozonation, offering a very high surface area for micropollutants to be adsorbed and subjected to sequential oxidative degradation stages and results in a lower THMFP (trihalomethanes formation potential) compared to the ozonation process. Granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration and powdered activated carbon (PAC) adsorption have showed a mitigated efficiency depending on the micropollutant and the frequency of regeneration/replacement. Therefore, the PNFR can retrofit WWTPs with an additional barrier of an advanced water treatment method, which doesn’t depend on the kind of micropollutant, doesn’t need frequent regeneration, operates in continuous flow mode, doesn’t need intensive post treatments for the abatement of by-products and has the capacity to recover the 95% of the wastewater effluent for reuse. Since the PNFR technology operates primarily as a nanofiltration (NF) process, it is contingent upon the factors affecting the performance of NF, with main challenge to avoid membrane fouling by selecting the best pre-treatment methods based on the industrial wastewater characteristics. Having established the required pre-treatment stages (a combination of Coagulation Flocculation-Sedimentation and PAC) a list of potential other applications of PNFR is following provided:

  • Wastewater from the washing of the spraying machinery, phytosanitary treatments equipment and containers of agricultural chemicals
  • Greywater of hotels, public building and houses
  • Drinking water, for taste and odour abatement
  • Effluent of anaerobic fermentation in biogas production and recycle the water.

    3. Benefits for the Industry.

  • End Users: Considering that a novel technology indenting to reduce environmental pollution cannot always conclude to a source of income or a reduction in the operating expenses of the industry that will adopt it, we have identified the following key benefits of the PNFR technology for industrial end-users:
    • Avoidance of the cost for handling wastewater.
    • Avoidance of the environmental cost of either tackling it later in the form of a fine by public bodies or reflected in the measurements of the constant and permanent reduction of drinking water resources on the planet. Water scarcity will certainly increase the cost of water use for huge water consumers.
    • Reduction of carbon emissions (and the incurred costs) from the procedures of managing wastewater.
    • Cut off the annual cost for freshwater usage.
    • Better water quality that can conclude to improved products.
    • Multiple benefits for industries that make sustainability a key consideration in the delivery of their goods and services and strive to minimize the production of harmful chemicals, excess materials, and waste.
    • Socio-economic benefits in the region where the industrial end-user is situated.
    • Benefited through the employment of new high-quality researchers/staff in new work positions.
    • Promotion of the strategy in investing on new technologies, proving that the targets of quality, competitiveness and environmental protection are in line with the EU policies for the environment.
  • Water treatment Industry: The broad applicability of PNFR in several industrial sectors will contribute to the development of new job opportunities in the sectors of water industry and environmental technologies. According to the EU Action Plan for the Environment 2020 the sector of environmental technologies has increased employment by 3% and it has been identified as a rapidly expanding sector. Hence, such technologies are expected to contribute and build on the high potential of this environmental sector.

 

Partners

  1. BENAKI PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL INSTITUTE (BPI), Coordinator
  2. ATIONAL CENTRE FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH “DEMOKRITOS” (NCSR DEMOKRITOS)
  3. AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE OF ZAGORA-PILIO (ZAGORIN)
  4. UNIVERSIDAD DE ALMERIA (UAL)/ CIESOL

 

Collaborating Company with UAL

  1. CITRICOS DEL ANDARAX, S.A.

 

“With Contribution of the LIFE Programme of the European Union”

Czech agriculture goes digital as science meets with farmers

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Close collaboration between scientists, researchers and farmers has helped agriculture in the Czech Republic to take significant digital steps and increase its competitiveness, analysts told EURACTIV Czech Republic.

An increasing number of Czech farmers have embraced the idea of “producing more with less input” through the application of technology-based precision farming practices.

There are already about 250 milking robots in the Czech Republic. There are also automatic floor cleaners in cowsheds, which suck up the slurry and remove it. This progress is also visible in the Czech fields, with tractors connected to the Internet.

“Czech farmers are the world leaders in using these technologies. Approximately three-quarters of Czech farmers use some of the precision farming systems,” Veronika Hlaváčková, director of the Institute for Agriculture Education, said.

Precise equals ecological?

Analysts suggest that modern technologies will inevitably prevail in the agriculture sector and have a multidimensional role to play in reducing the use of pesticides and bureaucracy for audit authorities.

“We can dramatically reduce inputs thanks to robotization, especially the consumption of pesticides and water,” Vojtěch Kotecký, an environment protection expert, said, adding that robots apply much fewer herbicides and more accurately compared to conventional spraying.

“Although the Czech herbicide consumption fell by 19% between 2009 and 2016, robotics could bring result in even more dramatic drop,” Kotecký said.

The digitisation of the EU farming sector has become a priority for EU policymakers. The European Commission recently submitted to the EU member states a draft declaration titled “A smart and sustainable digital future for European agriculture and rural areas”.

According to the document, EU member states recognise the “urgency” to speed up the introduction of new technologies in order to address increasing challenges related to the environment, economy and society.

Scientists and farmers

The digital revolution in agriculture would never have been possible without research, development and its subsequent implementation. However, linking scientists and farmers is not an easy task.

“So far, the connection between the research sphere and agricultural practice has not been ensured. A number of research projects concerned areas that have not been very useful in practice or on the contrary farmers have been unable to get to useful research results,” Hlaváčková explained.

Almost three years ago, a Technology Platform for Agriculture was established in the Czech Republic, and Veronika Hlaváčková has been the main coordinator.

Thanks to the cooperation and direct communication between farmers and scientists, Czech agriculture is gradually being modernised and refined, she said.

“Over decades, Czech researchers in collaboration with major agricultural machinery manufacturers and Czech farmers have been the creators of many solutions such as sensors, soil probes and work algorithms that help to maintain or improve soil quality. And not just in the Czech Republic,” Hlaváčková said.

Modern technology in agriculture does not only mean the replacement of forks with robots and drones. New ways of growing plants are also being explored so that a crop grows while costs decrease.

The new technology is being tested first with pilot companies, so-called demo-farms, before engaging in the normal agricultural activity. One of them is Bureš Farm where the cultivation of supporting crops is tested.

“A total of 100 hectares of winter wheat are sown on demofarm and surrounding farms with a slug as an auxiliary crop. The stands are being closely monitored and the data are used to verify the research outputs,” said Jindřich Šmöger.

“In agriculture, the result is not visible from one day to another; it is a long-distance run. It is necessary to introduce new technologies in practice, first on smaller areas, then on larger and then of course in different conditions,” Šmöger added.

The potential

Miloslav Klas, the Director of the Agricultural Society Chrášťany, said there was great demand for precision agriculture.

“It is a dynamically developing field where many research teams, both foreign and domestic, operate. Precise farming methods and procedures begin to standardise and are finally prepared in such a way that they can be used effectively for their benefit by a large part of farms in the Czech Republic,” Klas said.

According to him, the development of precision agriculture is also boosted by the fact that most Czech agricultural holdings are led by university level experts.

“There is a new technological stage of agricultural production development ahead of us. It will bring many new opportunities, which would have been difficult to achieve before,” Klas concluded.

[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Sam Morgan]

 

Source: https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/czech-agriculture-goes-digital-as-science-meets-with-farmers/

Digitalising agriculture: Opportunities and market control

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By Florence Schulz | EURACTIV.de | translated by Daniel Eck

This article is part of our special report Innovation in post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy.

With the EU’s new Common Agricultural Policy, the European Commission is set to foster innovation and digitalisation in agriculture. German companies are hoping for multi-billion euro deals, yet management and infrastructural issues stand in the way. EURACTIV Germany reports.

“Today’s harvesters are mobile laboratories. With a GPS, it can be controlled with great precision and simultaneously collect a large amount of data on plants and soil.” Wolfram Eberhardt, head of corporate communications at Germany’s large agricultural machinery manufacturer Claas, explained.

Agriculture is experiencing a profound change. Robot-controlled milking systems or aerial drones that examine plants and possible pest infestations have long gained a foothold on the agricultural market.

High hopes lie in digitalisation. It should help Europe maintain its position in the increasingly globalised agricultural market, make the latter more sustainable and help cover the growing global need for food.

While negotiations on the new CAP continue, the Commission published a statement on a smart and sustainable digital future of the CAP, in which it calls on member states to urgently take more measures in relation to digitalisation.

Who controls the market?

For the agricultural engineering sector, this means billion-euro contracts. The sector foresees growth of up to 12%. In Germany alone, one of the leading powers on Europe’s market, 183 companies generated a turnover of more than seven billion euros in 2017 according to the auditing company EY.

The Association of German Engineers (VDI) estimated that close to one-third of this growth can be attributed to electronics, software and sensor technologies.

“The priority no longer lies in optimising machines and increasing their drive power. At Claas, we are more interested in looking for possibilities to make processes connected and intelligent,” said Eberhardt.

Machines of the future will communicate better between themselves. Processes will also be connected better, for instance with the help of a farm management software. All processes and machines, such as the milking systems, tractors, bookkeeping or the application of fertilisers, should therefore be collected. “This saves the farmer a significant amount of documentation work,” according to Eberhard.

Critics are quite sceptical about this trend. The rise of huge amounts of data could allow big companies such as Claas to build an invulnerable market position, they warn. Manufacturers of agricultural machinery could control the whole value-added chain, including the seed, pesticide and fertiliser market, if they extract data from the work of farmers on a huge scale.

This kind of criticism is not appropriate, according to Eberhard. “We only collect the data on a huge scale. As soon as the personal data of farmers is at stake, there is a need for the farmer’s explicit consent.”

Network expansion hampers progress

It cannot be said that digitalisation is being applied on every German farm. This is clear from a 2016 survey led by the digital association Bitkom. Only 12% of farmers stated that they possessed a farm management system. At the same time, more than half of the farmers use digital solutions, according to the study.

Hubertus Paetow, president of the DLG and a farmer himself in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, is quite sceptical on the matter: “There are also automation systems, as simple as steering that are taken into account. Truly innovative and digital solutions are only being used by a small fraction of farmers.”

And there are other difficulties too: “Without the appropriate infrastructure, farmers cannot implement new technologies at a large scale even if they wanted to,” Dr Josef Efken from the Thünen-Institut told A EURACTIV-led conference a few months ago. “Ultimately, it hampers the competitiveness of our agricultural sector.”

A lack of ideas, not of money

Alongside infrastructure, structural obstacles need to be overcome. Agricultural policy is a state matter in Germany. This means that subsidy requests are submitted differently to every ministry.

“In principle, our developers need to develop a different solution for farm management in every single federal state. The standardisation of data traffic is absolutely necessary,” according to Wolfram Eberhard.

Paetow of the DLG shares that opinion. German federalism is hindering Germany from taking a leading position on the international market of agricultural technology. The administrative expense of the CAP also needs to be reduced to a “bearable level”, according to Paetow.

For this, Wolfram Eberhard could imagine a European solution in which member states would all have access to the same platform. But such a project is not envisaged in the current draft of the CAP.

On the contrary, the system is intended to be more open and give member states more freedom in the development of their national agricultural strategies. It is therefore up to them to decide how to make use of the budget for agricultural research, which has increased to €10 billion.

The German ministry of agriculture appears quite ambitious in paving the way for a digital future. In the next three years, €60 million are set to go into the so-called “testing grounds”, which should test the practical relevance of new and digital technologies in the fields.

Hubertus Paetow welcomes the initiative. Up until now, the focus has always been on basic research. “Exceptionally, for once, there is no lack of money. For this, we urgently need more intelligent minds that have good and structured ideas to apply these financial means that have been made available.”

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

 

Source: https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/digitalising-agriculture-opportunities-and-market-control/

Butterfly numbers down by two thirds, German scientists find high-intensity agriculture reduces number of butterfly species in adjacent areas

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Meadows adjacent to high-intensity agricultural areas are home to less than half the number of butterfly species than areas in nature preserves. The number of individuals is even down to one-third of that number. These are results of a research team led by Jan Christian Habel at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Thomas Schmitt at the Senckenberg Nature Research Society.

Germany is home to roughly 33,500 species of insects — but their numbers are decreasing dramatically. Of the 189 species of butterflies currently known from Germany, 99 species are on the Red List, 5 have already become extinct, and 12 additional species are threatened with extinction.

Now a team led by Prof. Jan-Christian Habel of the Department of Terrestrial Ecology of the Technical University of Munich and Prof. Thomas Schmitt, Director of the Senckenberg German Entomological Institute in Muencheberg in Brandenburg, has examined the specific effects of the intensity of agricultural use on the butterfly fauna.

Reduced biodiversity also on areas around intensively cultivated fields

The research team recorded the occurrence of butterfly species in 21 meadow sites east of Munich. Of these study sites, 17 are surrounded by agriculturally used areas, and four are in nature preserves with near-natural cultivation.

They recorded a total of 24 butterfly species and 864 individuals in all study sites. Specialists among the butterflies were particularly dependent on near-natural habitats, while the more adaptable “generalists” were also found in other grassland sites.

“In the meadows that are surrounded by agriculturally used areas we encountered an average of 2.7 butterfly species per visit; in the four study sites within the protected areas ‘Dietersheimer Brenne’ and ‘Garchinger Heide’ near Munich we found an average of 6.6 species,” adds Prof. Werner Ulrich of the Copernicus University in Thorn, Poland.

Negative impact of the industrialized agriculture demands rethinking

“Our results show an obvious trend: in the vicinity of intensively cultivated fields that are regularly sprayed with pesticides, the diversity and numbers of butterflies are significantly lower than in meadows near less used or unused areas,” explains the study’s lead author, Prof. Jan Christian Habel.

“Our study emphasizes the negative impact of the conventional, industrialized agriculture on the butterfly diversity and shows the urgent need for ecologically sustainable cultivation methods. Additional field studies may aid in identifying individual factors responsible for the insect die-back and in implementing appropriate countermeasures,” adds Schmitt in closing.

 

Journal Reference:

  1. Jan Christian Habel, Werner Ulrich, Nina Biburger, Sebastian Seibold, Thomas Schmitt. Agricultural intensification drives butterfly decline. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 2019; DOI: 10.1111/icad.12343

 

 

 

Source: Materials provided by Technical University of Munich (TUM).

Responsible innovation key to smart farming

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The so-called ‘fourth agricultural revolution’ must provide social benefits and address potentially negative side-effects of agri-tech

— by University of East Anglia, UK

Responsible innovation that considers the wider impacts on society is key to smart farming, according to academics at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Agriculture is undergoing a technology revolution supported by policy-makers around the world. While smart technologies will play an important role in achieving improved productivity and greater eco-efficiency, critics have suggested that consideration of the social impacts is being side-lined.

In a new journal article Dr David Rose and Dr Jason Chilvers, from UEAs School of Environmental Sciences, argue that the concept of responsible innovation should underpin the so-called fourth agricultural revolution, ensuring that innovations also provide social benefits and address potentially negative side-effects.

Each of the previous revolutions was radical at the time – the first representing a transition from hunting and gathering to settled agriculture, the second relating to the British Agricultural Revolution in the 18th century, and the third to post-war productivity increases associated with mechanization and the Green Revolution in the developing world.

The current ‘agri-tech’ developments come at a time when the UK government has provided £90 million of public money to transform food production in order to be at the forefront of global advanced sustainable agriculture. Many other countries are also prioritising smart agri-tech.

This, combined with private investment from organisations including IBM, Barclays, and Microsoft, means that ‘Agriculture 4.0’ is underway, with technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics increasingly being used in farming.

Dr Rose, a lecturer in human geography, said: “All of these emergent technologies have uses in farming and may provide many benefits. For example, robotics could plug potential lost labor post-Brexit in industries such as fruit picking, while robotics and AI could enable better chemical application, saving farmers money and protecting the environment. They could also attract new, younger farmers to an ageing industry.”

Writing in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Dr Rose and Dr Chilvers warn though that agri-tech could also have side-effects, bringing potential environmental, ethical, and social costs.

“In light of controversial agri-tech precedents, it is beyond doubt that smart farming is going to cause similar controversy. Robotics and AI could cause job losses or change the nature of farming in ways that are undesirable to some farmers. Others might be left behind by technological advancement, while wider society might not like how food is being produced,” said Dr Rose.

“We therefore encourage policy-makers, funders, technology companies and researchers to consider the views of both farming communities and wider society. We advocate that this new agricultural tech revolution, particularly the areas funded by public money, should be responsible, considering the winners, but particularly the potential losers of change.

Dr Rose added: “This means better ways, both formal and informal, to include farmers and the public in decision-making, as well as advisors and other key stakeholders sharing their views. Wider society should be able to change the direction of travel, and ask whether we want to go there. They should be able to question and contest whether benefits to productivity should supersede social, ethical, or environmental concerns, and be able to convince innovators to change design processes.

“Responsible innovation frameworks should be tested in practice to see if they can make tech more responsible. More responsible tech saves controversy, such as that surrounding genetic modification, ensures farmers and the public are behind it, and can help to deliver on the policy objectives.”

Original article: Agriculture 4.0: Broadening Responsible Innovation in an Era of Smart Farming

 

No water, no agriculture

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The state of Europe’s water ecosystems puts a big question mark over the future availability of freshwater, for people and for all manner of industry, not least for food production and agriculture, writes Jabier Ruiz.

Jabier Ruiz is senior policy officer, agriculture and food, at the WWF’s European Policy Office.

Water is one of nature’s most valuable resources, and the role it plays in our daily lives and economies cannot be overstated. But it is under threat.

As we beckoned in 2019, water was sky-high on the agenda – the World Economic Forum kicked off the year with its Global Risks Report and, unsurprisingly, water was listed amongst the top five crises for businesses. For the ninth year in a row.

In Europe, the sources of our freshwater are in a dire state. 60% of our rivers, lakes, wetlands, streams, coastal and transitional waters are not healthy today and fail to meet the water quality and quantity standards that the EU’s landmark water legislation, the Water Framework Directive, establishes that must be reached by all Member States by 2027.

The state of our water ecosystems puts a big question mark over the future availability of freshwater in Europe, for people and for all manner of industry, not least for food production and agriculture. Without water, there is simply no agriculture – approximately 70% of the freshwater used worldwide is currently pumped into irrigation alone.

Given water’s colossal importance to the sector, you would think that the protection and sustainable management of our waters would be at the very heart of EU farming and the policy that underpins it.

Spoiler alert: It isn’t.

Many sectors exert huge pressures on water ecosystems, but agriculture has a lot to answer for. According to the European Environmental Agency’s 2018 report on the state of European waters, agricultural production is the major source of diffuse pollution (mostly as a result of nutrient runoff, as well as chemicals like pesticides), which affects 38% of EU surface waters (such as rivers, lakes, wetlands and streams). Agriculture is also the main reason that EU groundwater is still failing to achieve good chemical and quantitative status, with over abstraction (pumping out too much water) for irrigation also being a huge concern, especially in southern European countries.

To add insult to injury, instead of supporting the protection and sustainable management of water, the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) undermines it. With its unfair subsidies, the CAP favours intensive farming practices rather than sustainability. It reinforces, rather than dissuades, practices which deplete our planet’s natural resources, including freshwater.

Although it is clear from the EU’s own environmental legislation and monitoring that our waters cannot stand being so stretched and polluted by the farming sector a second longer, EU institutions are reluctant to push for all-round CAP reform. On paper, draft CAP regulations mention water and other environmental challenges prominently, but ultimately fail to set up a strong EU framework which would obligate Member States to fully integrate sustainable water management in their CAP strategic plans. This is especially critical because poor application of the farming policy can completely undermine the full and effective implementation of environmental legislation.

Could co-legislators make the CAP proposal any better for water? At the time of writing there is some hope, as the only formal opinion to date from a key decision maker is that of the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.  For the first time, this committee has shared competence over the CAP reform, and they have asked for stronger objectives and a higher baseline on water use and agrochemicals, as well as a significant budget for environmental measures in the CAP.

But, as expected, ongoing negotiations in the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and in the Agriculture Council of the EU are less promising, and in some cases truly disheartening. Indeed, provisions that could lead to diminishing pressures on water (such as safeguards on irrigation investments or incentives to reduce the use of agrochemicals) could be already weakened at EU level, thereby allowing Member States to design their CAP strategic plans whilst remaining completely oblivious as to what the common EU interest is.

The  EU and its Member States need to wake up to  reality and respond boldly to the water challenge, putting forward a coherent farming policy that can both drive EU farming practices towards sustainability and ensure that there is enough good quality water in the future for people, nature and economies.

Source: https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/opinion/no-water-no-agriculture/

 

EU food alert system exposed to antimicrobial resistant contamination

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On 25 October 2018, the European Parliament adopted a new legislative framework for veterinary medicinal products and medicated feed, a step forward in preventing the rise in antibiotic resistance.

This op-ed is signed by MEP Barts Staes (Greens/EFA), MEP Lynn Boylan (GUE), MEP Guillaume Balas (S&D), MEP Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA), MEP Maria Heubuch (Greens/EFA), MEP Eleonora Evi (EFDD), MEP Thomas Waitz (Greens/EFA) and MEP Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA).

Under this new legislation, the preventive use of antibiotics in animal feed will be prohibited. This will also apply to imported foodstuffs. This policy should be implemented by 2022 and is one of many responses to rising antibiotic resistance, which is a major risk to human and animal health and threatens us all.

By prohibiting the systematic preventative feeding of antibiotics to farmed animals and ending the use of last-resort antibiotics for animals, EU legislators want to ensure that these drugs can stay effective.

However, laws and regulations will not be enough to win the – very costly – fight against antibiotic resistance. Last December, there were specific reports of massive contamination of animal feed with antimicrobial resistance genes dating back to 2014.

NGOs published information that large quantities of unauthorised vitamin B2 (also called riboflavin (80%) containing viable, genetically modified bacteria had been introduced into the human food chain in Europe via feed additives from a Dutch animal-nutrition supplier imported from China.

This genetically modified bacteria is not authorised to be used in food or feed in the EU and was genetically engineered to carry antimicrobial resistance genes. This poses risks to both animals and human health, as well as to the environment, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The contamination is estimated to concern between 250,000 and 500,000 tons of animal feed in several EU countries (to date: the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Italy and the Netherlands are concerned but the list may grow).

As early as 2014, the German and British authorities warned other Member States via the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) after discovering the presence of this unauthorised genetically modified bacteria in vitamin B2 feed additives.

In October 2016, a joint study conducted by experts from the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) and other EU authorities concluded that the affected feed additives should never have been sold.

It should be noted that the Vitamin Authorisation Consortium (VITAC), regrouping the main stakeholders, applying for the authorisation of vitamins on the EU market, have refused to collaborate with the BVL and to provide them with relevant samples. At the time, no measures were taken to withdraw the vitamin B2 additive or the contaminated feed materials from the market.

An incomprehensible delay of action

Rather than take immediate action, in August 2016 the European Commission asked EFSA to prepare a new scientific opinion on the safety of riboflavin (80%). This opinion, adopted on 7 March 2018, concluded that the additive posed a risk for the “target species, consumers, users and the environment”.

However, it was not until 19 September that the European Commission issued an official ban on the illegal nutritional additive. As such, farmers are still allowed to continue using feeds that have already been produced with the additive – presumably hundreds of thousands of tonnes – until April 2019.

As members of the European Parliament, we are appalled to learn that 47 months separated the first report of the contamination on the RASFF system and the EU Commission’s reaction, especially concerning contamination involving antimicrobial resistance.

This is not the first time that the RASFF has failed to effectively fulfil its role (for example, the fypronil contamination of eggs last year). But in the vitamin B2 case, some of the member states actually used the system in an appropriate and timely manner. It is mainly the response to the RASFF alert that failed to ensure the protection of citizens and the environment.

The presence of the bacteria in vitamin B2 additives was minimised in the application for authorisation: the contaminations reported in the RASFF system should have been enough reason to temporarily withdraw the authorisation, or at least to immediately ask EFSA to review its assessment.

The Commission not only failed to protect EU citizens’ health but knowingly endangered their life.  We sent the responsible Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis a letter with the information to express our disappointment and highlight measures which could be taken to ensure such a situation does not repeat itself.

Six measures to avoid the story to repeat itself

1. The EU Commission should mandate an ad-hoc independent expert committee to analyse this case and make relevant proposals of measures to be timely taken and ensure this won’t happen again. Potential shortcomings in the EU Commission’s reaction should also be properly investigated.

2. EFSA’s first assessment was made on the basis of studies provided by VITAC in which the risks of a contamination by the GM bacteria were minimised. Later analysis of the initial samples showed the reality was different.

If EFSA had also referred properly to the published, peer-reviewed studies as a basis of its assessment, the risk of such a shortcoming would have been minimised. This is a key point and we hope that this new scandal will lead the ongoing negotiations on the General Food Law refit in the direction of more transparency and better scientific value of assessments.

3. When it comes to food and feed products produced by a GM organism, the risks coming from potential contamination by the genetically modified organism should always be assessed. If the genetically modified organism is potentially dangerous for health or the environment, the product itself should not be authorised.

4. The refusal of VITAC to contribute to the BVL study is shocking, given the risks at stakes for citizens’ health. The provision of relevant samples by the applicants to the authorities needs to be mandatory, with means of enforcement, through the temporary withdrawal of the authorisation of the product concerned for instance.

5. The delay given to farmers to use the contaminated feed – 8 months – is not acceptable in a case involving health risks. The feed needs to be withdrawn quickly, under the responsibility of the feed producers.

6. Vitamin B2 is one of the examples of food and feed products which are now only available as produced by a GMO. This is extremely problematic, as it means that any health or environmental problem occurring with the GMO put the authorities in a difficult position where they have to weigh the undeniably heavy negative economic impact of withdrawing said product against citizens’ health and safety.

It should be the role of the EU institutions to put measures in place so as to avoid this sort of situations, which endanger both our safety and our food security, for example, by supporting research and development of alternatives.

The industry cannot be trusted blindly when it comes to health or the environment. Trust may be good, controls are better. This slew of recent cases shows that blindly trusting the industry’s integrity is illusionary. Rules and enforcement measures are necessary to ensure EU citizen’s health, and this is what we will continue defending within the European Parliament.

 

Source: https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/opinion/eu-food-alert-system-exposed-to-antimicrobial-resistant-contamination/

German action plan for insect protection: Farmers want greater say

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By Florence Schulz | EURACTIV.de | translated by Rob Kirby

 

With insects declining at an alarming rate, the German environment ministry wants an action plan to protect them before the end of the year. But farmers are feeling ignored in the process and are calling for more environmental protection incentives. EURACTIV Germany reports.

A study featured in the British daily newspaper The Guardian is currently causing quite a stir with its finding that more than 40% of all insect populations are declining sharply. The rate of their extinction is eight times faster than for mammals or reptiles, the researchers warned. In the worst-case scenario, there may not be any insects in 100 years.

The public has long been anxious over this nightmare scenario and the decline of insects has been ignored for too long.

In February, almost 20% of all eligible voters in Bavaria joined a petition for a referendum to better protect biodiversity. The German government, in the form of social democrat (SPD) minister for the environment Svenja Schulze, has also confronted the problem.

In October 2018, the cabinet approved the key points of an “action plan for insect protection,” which has been under consultation between departments since Friday. If Schulze has her way, the cabinet will adopt the finished law in April.

“Stopping the decline of insects is a key political task of our time,” Schulze has said. Around €100 million of funding for the action plan should be made available every year, with a quarter going to research and monitoring.

Farmers think there is a lack of cooperation

The German Greens and nature conservation organisations criticise the law as insufficient, but there is also growing resistance from the German Farmers’ Association (DBV).

While farmers were willing to play their part, DBV chair Joachim Rukwied explained, “an action programme that only touches on key issues – such as unrestrained land consumption, urban sprawl or mobility – cannot fulfil its objective.”

DBV general secretary Bernhard Krüsken also thought that the law “comes with a host of detailed proposed bans.” He added that what was missing was a cooperative approach, as farmers could not do everything alone.

Nobody knows the exact situation of insects’ decline as the data is only based on a few studies. But the trend is very clear and has been recognised by science for a century, explained Martin Husemann, an entomologist at the University of Hamburg.

“There are studies showing that there are fewer insects in some regions with a lot of arable land than in cities. And this applies to all insect groups,” he continued.

Husemann added that a combination of many factors was the cause, particularly the lack of good-quality habitats for insects. These are habitats with great plant diversity and without too much noise, light and, of course, human activity.

German environment minister wants bans on fertilisers

The German environment ministry’s action plan aims to address as many of these issues as possible. In particular, the use of fertilisers should be restricted and, for example, there should be an outright ban on their use in areas of fields which border on insect habitats.

Moreover, the controversial pesticide glyphosate should only be used “in those areas and if there is absolutely no other solution.”

There is controversy over the extent to which pesticide use is even connected to the dramatic decline in insects. Some studies have not been able to establish an impact.

However, these studies are usually commissioned by fertiliser manufacturers themselves and are only carried out on certain species under laboratory conditions, Husemann emphasised.

“The funding is available”

As banning fertilisers will not stop the loss of biodiversity, the German plan for insect protection also plans to provide more green areas not intended for agricultural use.

This kind of “greening” is envisaged in the common agricultural policy (CAP) and is tied to funding. However, many criticise this as ineffective and, according to the Commission, it is to be dropped completely in its present form.

In order to have more wild plants, there needs to be an incentive programme for farmers, Krüsken believed. “The funding is available,” he added.

The German federal government and states provide funding while the CAP, from which German farmers obtain €6.2 billion a year, provides for environmental measures.

These include, on the one hand, direct payments and, on the other, money through co-funding by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Krüsken believed that, unfortunately, the bureaucracy was often lacking – for instance, if a flower strip is not accepted because there is a line of trees.

“There are always complaints but some money is available in the funding instruments. They just have to be directed towards insect protection. I don’t think we’ve yet exhausted all of the possibilities we have,” Krüsken said.

 

Source: https://www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/news/german-action-plan-for-insect-protection-farmers-want-greater-say/

 

Young people and women in EU farming

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The EU farming sector is faced with an ageing population. In 2016 only 11% of farm managers in the EU were young farmers under the age of 40 years, according to Eurostat.

According to European Parliament surveys, even though EU assistance has been available to young farmers for more than three decades, the ‘young farmer problem’ seems to remain.

The European Commission’s proposal for the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has set nine objectives, one of which is generational renewal. The CAP budget will play a key role in achieving these goals but its future level is uncertain because member states are still discussing EU budget priorities for the period 2021-2027.

Another issue is the role of women in EU agriculture. Eurostat data from 2013 shows that on average around 30% of farms across the EU are managed by a woman. The differences among member states are remarkable, ranging from just over 5% in the Netherlands to around 47% in Lithuania.

In February 2017, the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee and Women’s Committee approved a report calling for an enhanced role of women in EU farming.

EU lawmakers believe that women have a key role in helping to revive rural areas as well as avoiding further urbanisation.

“This report highlights the multifunctional role of a rural woman – as a mother, a homemaker, a worker, an educator, a manager of a family farm, a guardian of culture, heritage and tradition,” Croatian MEP Marjiana Petir told EURACTIV.com.

Similarly, a global study carried out by Corteva Agriscience found that discrimination against women in the farming sector is still widespread.

“Empowering women could help revive rural areas and meet rising food demand,” the report said.

 

 

Source: https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/special_report/young-people-and-women-in-eu-farming/