Evaluatie duurzame gewasbescherming 2006:milieu

The Dutch plant protection policy aims at reaching sustainable agriculture in the Netherlands. Operational goals with respect to the environment for the year 2010 compared to the year 1998 are: a reduction of 95% of the environmental impact on surface water and a reduction of 95% of bottle-necks in the production of drinking water from surface water. Midterm goals are 75% and 50% respectively. The calculated environmental impact as a result of drift emissions to surface water was reduced with 86%. Drift reduction measures, imposed since 2000, contributed most to this calculated reduction. The second most important contribution came from the use of less toxic plant protection products. Concentrations of plant protection product residues measured in surface waters declined over the study period, but still concentrations above maximum permissible levels occurred in 2004. The number of bottle-necks in the production of drinking water from surface water was diminished from 33 to 27; the midterm goal was not met. This was partly due to non-agricultural use of plant protection products and foreign sources. Experiments show that changes in plant protection strategies and management at the farm level may further reduce the environmental impact of plant protection products. Implementation of these innovations requires widespread dissemination of the results.