Boosting the European Green Deal in the crop production sector
Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a sustainable agriculture production system comprising a set of farming practices adapted to the requirements of crops and local conditions of each region, whose farming and soil management techniques protect the soil from erosion and degradation, improve its quality and biodiversity, and contribute to the preservation of the natural resources, water and air, while optimizing yields
Principles on which CA is based
2.
Permanent vegetation coverage on the surface
3.
Rotation of crops and/or diversification of crops
1.
Not altering arable land through tilling actions
Relevance of CA in Poland
The benefits of CA
Contribution to more dynamic rural areas
Socio-economic contribution
CA-related farming activities bring direct and indirect economic benefits through time saving and thus reduction in labour requirement. Therefore, CA allows farmers to devote time to other economic and social activities on and off the farm.
AIR
WATER
SOIL
BIODIVERSITY
AGRICULTURE
Contributions to GDP
Contributions to employment
CA as an instrument to make rural areas more dynamic and to fight against rural abandonment
Agriculture and rural development
Essential tools for CA practices
No-till seeders
No-till seeders are essential to prevent soil organic carbon losses that arise from tillage.
Herbicides
The integrated weed management (IWM) practice in CA optimizes the use of plant protection methods and products, including herbicides.
The role of the herbicide Glyphosate
Glyphosate, which is essential to CA practices, contributes to more effective and efficient weed control than other alternatives and its use is associated with higher productivity and lower costs
Economic
Environmental
Social
Environmental
Socio-economic
€ 18 M
Of current crop production can be associated with the use of glyphosate
35%
of EU farmers believe that there is no cost-efficient alternative to glyphosate
38%
of farmers in the EU would abandon CA techniques if it were not for glyphosate
The risks of not having access to Glyphosate
It should be specified that the elimination of glyphosate will cause varying increased costs for the farmer depending on the dose applied, the active substance used and the type of weeds targeted.