Transformation towards more sustainable soil management on Dutch arable farms

Abstract

Currently a debate is ongoing in the Netherlands on how to increase soil sustainable management in general and specifically in short term lease. Sustainable practices may not be adopted by farmers because of an interplay between EU, national and provincial legislation, short-term land lease system, and social and economic aspects. Wageningen Plant Research requested students from Wageningen University to research this topic. The purpose of this project is to develop a Sustainable Soil Management Framework that integrates the legislation, economic and social factors, and Ecosystem Services in order to enable farmers to adopt sustainable soil management practices.Through a literature study key issues were collected on each of the aspects in the framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with farmers, land funds, provinces and experts. The interviewees provided additional key issues as well as input to potential solutions to those issues.The main key issues concern the absence of an evaluation and rewarding system of sustainable practices within lease agreements, the (short) duration of lease agreements, and insufficient knowledge transfer and exchange on soil sustainable management practices between farmers and other stakeholders. Based on these main key issues we propose a set of solutions for each aspect within the Sustainable Soil Management Framework