Soil and Water Protectionin European Agriculture:

proposed guidelines book

October 2005

Mike Lane

Outline

• The background:

- Political environment- SOWAP and ProTerra projects

• The proposal: Conservation Agriculture guidelines for Europe

• Opportunity for collaboration

SOWAP and ProTerra

• SOWAP– Soil and Water Protection Project– EU Life Environment Project– Arable crops, Northern and Central Europe

• ProTerra– For soil– Syngenta project– Vines and olives, Mediterranean region

Political environment

• Water Framework Directive - Here now• Soil Framework Directive - Coming soon

• These set environmental targets for – Clean water– ‘Healthy’ soilfor farmers and land managers, amongst others

• No detail on– How to keep water clean?– What is healthy soil, and how to achieve it?

• CAP Reform – Single farm payments requiring observation of environmental standards. Will help to deliver Water and Soil directives

SOWAP and ProTerra

• Demonstrating that good soil management benefits the environment and the farm business

• Arable and perennial crops

• Multi-disciplinary– soil erosion– water quality (chemical and biological)– biodiversity (above and below ground)– Economics

• Widespread across Europe

SOWAP & ProTerra: European relevance

.

. .. .

.

= ProTerra

= SOWAP.

= Possible new collaborations

..

.

.

and importantly, Farmers

SOWAP and ProTerra: multi-stakeholder

Our Vision

• To work in collaboration with farmers, experts,

policymakers and other stakeholders to answer the

questions

– How to reduce agricultural diffuse pollution?

– What other benefits does a ‘healthy’ soil provide?

• To demonstrate that these can be achieved in a

practical and economically viable way

• To disseminate the outcomes to all stakeholders

• Create interest in soil and understanding of the link

between soil and water

Our Vision

• Adapt the principles of conservation agriculture to

provide in-field soil and water management solutions

that are site-specific

• Compare outcomes – agronomic, economic, ecological

- with local conventional agriculture

• Put soil management in the context of the entire

farming system and off-site effects

SOWAP and ProTerra: Work and information flow

Media (Press,Television,

Radio)

WorkshopsConferencesOpen days

EU TechnicalGuide CDsWebsite

Farmers andCommunity

WOCATEU Guidelines

SOWAP Database

Social ImpactEnvironmentEconomyAgronomy

RegulatorsAgricultureMinistries

EnvironmentAgencies

NGOsEU

SOWAP

PrimaryStakeholders

Field teams,i.e. data generationand analysis

Dissemination

Pan-EuropeanStakeholders

A SOWAP demonstration site

SOWAP + ProTerra: early results

• In Belgium in high risk silty soils using “Conservation Tillage” we have observed an average 60% reduction in sediment erosion and 40% reduction in water run-off when results are compared to the conventional plough approach

• In olives and vines in the ProTerra project we have huge reductions in sediment erosion for example in a large single rainfall event in France sediment erosion rates were reduced from 70 t/ha to 1.5 t/ha when a managed cover crop was employed

• In the SOWAP project early information suggests enhanced biodiversity (avian, terrestrial and aquatic) when catchment farming uses “Conservation Tillage”

Soil erosion in a Belgian farmersfield

Sugar beet washed away from a plot which used conventionalploughing practices

Muddy water from an arable field (tilled) mixing with clear water from pasture (not tilled)

Soil erosion in Somerset UK

Gully formed at Gigondas, FranceOlives in SpainSoil lost from around 50 year old tree

Soil ripping, France Soil erosion and ponding, France

SOWAP + ProTerra: European impact?

• We have worked over a number of years to develop solutions to the questions

• We work across Europe, encompassing a wide range of expertise

• We want to contribute at the European level by bringing our experience and knowledge together in a single place

• The CAMEO project was born

• To ensure its accuracy and relevance, we need external expert reviewers

What is CAMEO? (and what is it not)

• Conservation Agriculture Manual* for EurOpe

• A guide to soil and water conservation in European agriculture

• Contributors from SOWAP, ProTerra and other projects

• The target audience is policy makers and advisors

– It is not for farmers

• An easy-to-read guide that ensures the content is readily accessible

* It is a set of guidelines rather than a manual, but CAGEO doesn’t really work!

What's in CAMEO?• Overview of Soil and Water conservation practices

• Soil and water issues in Europe

• Policy framework: Soil Thematic Strategy, Water Framework Directive, CAP Reform

• Crop guidelines:– Arable– Perennial (trees, nuts and vines)– Horticulture– Grassland

• Conclusions

Progress and what’s missing

• Much of the ground work is complete– Overview of soil and water conservation– Arable and perennial crop guidelines– First draft of some of the issues and policy

initiatives

• What’s missing– A foreword– An independent review of the technical aspects of

the book

So why am I here?• The ESBN as I understand it

– Collects, harmonises, organises and distributes soil information for Europe

– However this has been expanded recently to include

• Soil information in Europe, to address a number of environmental problems and questions e.g.

– Degradation of soil structure

– Risk of erosion (by water and wind)

– Supply of water at catchment level

– Assessing the suitability (and sustainability) for traditional and alternative crops

– Estimation of soil stability

– Leaching of agrochemicals

Most of which are central to the work of SOWAP, ProTerra and CAMEO

So what is the proposal?• We would like to invite ESBN to become a full member

of the CAMEO project – which would also link them to both SOWAP and ProTerra

• We would value contributions from ESBN to CAMEO, especially in the area of soil protection

• We would also invite ESBN members to technically review CAMEO

• We would like ESBN to be a partner in the publication of CAMEO