Capacity building and public awareness raising on Nitrates Directive in the countries aspiring to EU accession

The governments of the EU Member States have agreed to potentially enlarge the Union with seven South East European countries (Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244) and Turkey. However, these countries will be granted full member status only when all political, legislative and administrative requirements for membership are fulfilled. Transposition, implementation and enforcement of the EU Nitrate Directive (91/676/EC) is one of these requirements. Many policy makers, farmers and consumers from the EU accession countries perceive the Nitrate Directive as a very demanding piece of legislation with little relevance for their countries. Moreover, there is a widespread belief that the Nitrate Directive can potentially limit the competitiveness of their agricultural sector. Limited or partial information and misconceptions about the Nitrate Directive in these countries provokes fear (and sometimes anger), notably by farmers. Consequently, the adoption of the Nitrate Directive receives low political priority. In most countries aspiring to EU membership, there are no other driving forces besides EU accession pushing Governments to adopt the Nitrate Directive. Pressure exerted by health, consumer or environmental protection NGOs hardly exists. Training and education on the Nitrate Directive is poorly covered and addressed by the curricula at higher education organisations, as well as by NGO training programmes. Consequently experts from these countries do not have much opportunity to get acquainted with the Nitrate Directive. The problem persists when these people become governmental officials, extension officers, farm managers, etc., and are supposed to make policy decisions and administer the Nitrate Directive – or advise farmers and manage farms according to EU Nitrates Directive requirements. In order to remedy this problem, several international projects, financed by the Global Environmental Facility fund (administered by the World Bank or the UN Development Programme), the European Commission, and the EU Member State Governments (notably the Netherlands) have been initiated recently. The experience from these projects shows that transfer of information - capacity building and public awareness raising programmes – play a vital role in understanding the rationale behind the Nitrate Directive and in accepting the farming practices it requires. Participatory training, demonstration of nutrient management planning software, on-farm water quality testing with mobile kits, experiments using piezometers/lysimeters and field trials involving various cover crops, buffer strips, etc. accompanied with Web pages, demonstration videos, posters, leaflets, etc. have been shown to be powerful tools to demonstrate the link between water quality and (adverse) agricultural practices. The valuation (“monetisation”) of ecosystem services and environmental costs generated by the fertiliser industry and farming is a newly emerging concept that seems to be a particularly promising tool for awareness raising on the Nitrate Directive. Emerging assessments from the accession countries suggest that hidden costs (public investments and environmental costs) associated with elevated content of nitrates in water can be substantial. Making policy makers and the public at large aware of these costs and of potential savings on them by practising water friendly farming methods (e.g. organic or pastoral farming) can foster the adoption of the EU Nitrate Directive in EU candidate counties and beyond

A Practical Method for Mapping of Pesticide Loss Risk in Cultivated Soils of Greece

In an attempt to map the soil factors controlling pesticide losses, surface soil samples were collected from 196 sites in the cultivated area of Trifyllia, SW Peloponnese, Greece. Up to now, the pesticide losses risk in the studied area is unknown. For this aim, the following key characteristics that affect movement or binding have been taken into consideration: soil texture, slope and soil organic matter content. A GIS map was compiled from discrete soil variables that affect pesticide losses (leaching and/or runoff). According to soil texture, 3 moderate leaching risk classes, 2 high and 1 low were defined, and the respective classes based on Soil Organic Matter (SOM) content were 3 low risk classes, 2 moderate and 1 class of high risk. The study area consists of two soil slope classes 0-2% and 2-6% which were used to calculate the leaching potential of pesticides. The compiled maps can be used by local authorities in order to minimize the potential negative environmental impacts of pesticide usage at farm level, and to suggest various mitigation strategies. Appropriate farming practices must be applied to decrease leaching or losses by runoff in order to mitigate the pollution of shallow aquifers and surface waters in SW Peloponnese. Rational irrigation management is of high importance as it increases the pesticide effectiveness and reduces off site movement. Moreover, runoff of pesticides can be reduced by using minimum tillage techniques to mitigate soil erosion. Finally, farming systems and practices that increase soil organic matter content (e.g. no tillage) can reduce substantially the risk of water pollution by pesticides

Nutrients, Trace Elements and Water Deficit in Greek Soils Cultivated with Olive Trees

The studied soils consist of alluvial and/or colluvial deposits  located in the Prefecture of Messinia, Western Peloponnese (Greece). A total number of 263 surface soil layers were selected and analysed for the main properties. Minimum and maximum values and  the distribution of soil properties varied greatly and can be attributed mainly to various fertilization practices adopted by  farmers, inputs of nutrients by irrigation water and differences due to inherent soil conditions. Lower variability was recorded for the parameters pH, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), total soil nitrogen (N) and soil organic matter (SOM), while coefficients of variation for properties that can be affected easily by human activities such as available phosphorus and micronutrients, are much higher. Minor content for trace elements was observed in the following order:Zinc (Zn)>Manganese (Mn)>Boron (B)>Iron (Fe). During the dry period, irrigation of olive trees is recommended and the appropriate irrigation demands were defined, taking into account rainfall and  water requirements

Nitrogen fertilization plans for the main crops of Turkey to mitigate nitrates pollution

To create a rational nitrogen fertilization plan, a mass nitrogen (N) balance was used for the main crops of Turkey. The following components are included in the suggested N fertilization plans: the quantity of N fertilizer which is required by the crop for a targeted and sustainable yield, nitrogen inputs available to the crop without fertilization, nitrogen losses mainly due to nitrates leaching and emissions to the atmosphere. This simple equation was transformed to a more detailed one and fertilization plans are based on the total N required to produce a crop of a targeted yield, N mineralized from Soil Organic Matter (SOM), the residual plant available inorganic N before sowing or planting, input of nitrogen from rainfall and losses through leaching and emissions. This work is based on available data and is an open sheet balance which can be easily used by local authorities. Decreased N fertilization can be applied without significant yield reduction and this can be explained by increased N use efficiency, as a result of proper time of application and splitting of N fertilizers in doses. This model can be appropriately adapted according to site-specific conditions, whilst new parameters can be added to improve precision of the performed calculations

Nitrogen Leaching Of Spring Wheat Genotypes (Triticum Aestivum L.) Varying In Nitrogen-Related Traits

Efficient use of nitrogen (N) by wheat crop and hence prevention of possible contamination of ground and surface waters by nitrates has aroused environmental concerns. The present study was conducted in drainage lysimeters for three years (1998-2000) to identify whether spring wheat genotypes (Triticum aestivum L.) that differ in N-related traits differ in N leaching and to relate parameters of N use efficiency (NUE) with parameters of N leaching. For this reason two spring wheat cultivars ('Albis' and 'Toronit') and an experimental line ('L94491') were grown under low (20 kg N ha-1) and ample N supply (270 kg N ha-1). The genotypes varied in parameters of NUE but not in N leaching. Grain yield of the high-protein line ('L94491') was, on average, 11% lower than that of 'Toronit' but among genotypes had significantly higher N in the grain (%), grain N yield, and N harvest index. Nitrogen lost through leaching was considerably low (0.42-0.52 g m-2) mainly due to low volume of percolating water or the ability of the genotypes to efficiently exploit soil mineral N. There were no clear relationships between N-related genotype traits and N leaching, but across all treatments significantly negative correlations between volume of leachate and the amount of N in the total biomass and grain N yield existed.Fil: Noulas, Christos. National Agricultural Research Foundation; GreciaFil: Herrera, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales; Argentina. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich; SuizaFil: Alexiou, Ioannis. National Agricultural Research Foundation; GreciaFil: Karyotis, Theodore. National Agricultural Research Foundation; GreciaFil: Liedgens, Markus. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich; SuizaFil: Stamp, Peter. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich; SuizaFil: Toulios, Margaritis. National Agricultural Research Foundation; Greci