Sustainable agriculture and eutrophication in Belarus

Transcription

1 Sustainable agriculture and eutrophication in Belarus Lana Semenas, Ecohome, Belarus CCB 2009 Annual Conference in Estonia, 8-10 May

2 Belarus Total land area ha water resources 2,3% bogs 4,4% other 10,05% forests 40,1% agricultural land 43,2%

3 45% of Belarusian land is basin of Baltic sea 5 % of the total Baltic Sea catchment area are located in Belarus 6.5 % of the Vistula (Western Bug) catchment area 46 % of the Nemunas (Neman) catchment area 38 % of the Daugava (Dvina) catchment area

4 The transboundary pollution loads for nitrogen and phosphorus respectively are 31 % and 56 % at Nemunas, 63 % and 60 % at Daugava

5 Belarus contributes 5 kilotonnes of nitrogen per year and is 16th on the list of most significant contributors. Diffuse sources are the main contributors to nutrient pollution in Belarus (animal farms flows, soil erosion, excess of mineral and organic fertilizers) One of the most urgent problems is nitrate pollution of ground water

6 State of agriculture in Belarus About a third of the population lives in rural areas 9.8 % of the employed population works in the agriculture 8.4% of gross domestic product homesteads; 13,6% small private gardens; 0,7% collective farms 84% private farms; 1,2% Intensive (conventional) agricultural production is the major direction of agricultural economics in Belarus - Harvest at any price.

7 State of agriculture in Belarus: factors of eutrophication 19 ГРОДНО БРЕСТ БАРАНОВИЧИ 30 ПИНСК ПОЛОЦК ВИТЕБСК ДОКШИЦЫ 6 ОРША МОГИЛЕВ МИНСК БОБРУЙСК МОЗЫРЬ ГОМЕЛЬ Degradation of soils - 19 % of the overall territory of the country land melioration thousand ha of peat bogs are drained, mainly for agricultural needs. The peat layer is rapidly degrading.

8 State of agriculture in Belarus: factors of eutrophication Use of Mineral fertilizers (in terms of 100 per cent contentofnutrients) - nitrogenous t phosphate t Fertilizer application in 2008: N 69 kg per hectare P 24 kg per hectare Fertilizer application increases permanently

9 State of agriculture in Belarus: factors of eutrophication 56 large scale industrial pig farms are the Baltic Sea catchment part of Belarus There are few large scale pigfarms which have effective systems of manure management and utilization Annually, large-scale industrial pig farms produce mln tones of wastewater and manure The problem of manure management from industrial farms shall be considered as one of the most important environmental problems.

10 Barriers for organic agriculture development: No National Standards and law on organic agriculture Absence of certification body; No state financial support for organic farmers; Lack of information especially for producers of agricultural products and for consumers; No positive experience in organic farming in the country No system of retail sale of organic products.

11 Coordination of organic movement in Belarus, involvement of people Ecohome Centre of Environmental Solutions Certification Working group Agracultura Informing and consulting Marketing studies, polls of various groups agro-producers and traders general public, authorities

12 Main results of 2 years of activities 2 round tables Outlook of organic agriculture in Belarus (2007) Strategy of the working group Establishment of organic farm

13 Main results of 2 years of activities Ecolabel Agriculture in Harmony with Nature Criteria of the Ecolabel Promotion of the Ecolabel among farmers to stimulate producers to transition to organic movement 9 participants received Diplomas and Ecolabels 12 articles in nation-wide newspapers and website of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Protection

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15 Main results of 2 years of activities Poll of mothers (2007) need organic products 97% ready for higher prices 86% it is necessary to produce organic products in Belarus- 83% Poll of farmers (2007) Main barriers: unfavorable price policy lack of information lack of marketing system and retail sale system

16 Results of marketing study (consumer's preferences) Would you like to buy organic food? no; 3,2% find difficulty in replying; 1,3% yes; 95,4% More than one half of potential consumers (55,8%) are ready to pay more for organic products as compared with conventional ones.

17 Potential of organic agriculture in Belarus Demand for organic products exists Producers hold an interest in organic production There are few farms in transition to organic agriculture Scientific basis exists Active followers of organic agriculture Agricultural traditions corresponds with organic agriculture

18 Goals 2009 To coordinate and moderate organic movement in Belarus To investigate the present situation with organic agriculture and relied fields (consumers preferences, marketing) in order to elaborate following steps of sustainable agriculture development in Belarus (strategy for development of sustainable agriculture system in Belarus) To inform the society about the results acquired; to inform producers, authorities, consumers, experts and general public about sustainable agriculture and organic movement in Belarus and other countries To encourage farmers and other producers to choose environmentally friendly organic agriculture; to stimulate demand for organic products and help consumers to find them via non-official certification of agricultural products (Ecolabel)

19 Plans 2009 Database on organic\sustainable agriculture Small library (books, periodic issues, films, electronic data) Study (questionnaire) of farmers and small gardens owners to estimate real scale of organic methods use in Belarus Analysis of legal circumstances, scientific researches revue etc. New edition of the report Sustainable agriculture in Belarus - continuation of the report Organic agriculture in Belarus (2006) Educational 1- day seminar for journalists Periodic bulletin\newsletter on organic agriculture The 2 nd year of Ecolabel Competition Creation of demonstration ground of organic agriculture in Belarus Educational seminars for farmers and landholders, NGOs activists, food producers Festival of sustainable agriculture

20 Long term goals to promote a pattern of sustainable agriculture raising awareness of farmers and consumers so that they would choose and produce goods that are less environmentally threatening to demand food products with minimal environmental impact from farmers and other producers to demand better environmental policies from government public participation in the development of legislation of organic farming to train, to educate farmers and NGOs activists regarding organic agriculture issue on a specific techniques and encourage local initiatives to apply the techniques in practice.

21 Thanks for attention!