Information
and Communications Campaign for the Proper Use and Management of Nitrates in
Agriculture and Livestock BreedingLife10
INF/MT/000092
Fertilisers help in replenishing our
soils, preserving fertility and sustaining the world's growing need for food.
Through the years, however, the excessive application of fertilisers led to a
huge environmental problem: nitrates pollution.
Malta's groundwater bodies were found
to be very vulnerable to nitrate pollution. In fact, all Maltese territory was
designated as one Nitrates Vulnerable Zone.
In 2008, the Malta Resources
Authority carried out a detailed monitoring programme of the quality of all
groundwater bodies in the Maltese Islands. From fifteen groundwater bodies
monitored, only three water bodies had nitrate levels below the 50mg/l
permissible threshold set by the European Commission. The other groundwater
bodies all contained high levels of nitrates.
In that same year, a study conducted
by the British Geological Survey, on behalf of the Malta Resources Authority,
found that leaching of nitrates from cultivated soils and derivation from
animal wastes were likely to be the main sources of nitrates pollution in
groundwater bodies.
Nitrates used in agriculture in the
form of organic and chemical fertilisers have been a major source of water
pollution in Malta and in Europe. It was for this reason that the European
Union introduced the European Nitrates Directives (91/676/
EEC).
The European Nitrates Directive,
drawn up by the European Commission in 1991, aims to protect water quality
across Europe by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources from polluting
ground and surface waters. This Directive forms an integral part of the Water Framework Directive and
is one of the key instruments in the protection of waters against agricultural
pressures.
This European Nitrates Directive was
transposed in Maltese legislation under the Environment and Development
Planning Act (Chapter 504) and entered into force on January 14, 2003. As part
of the implementation of the Directive, the Ministry for Resources and Rural
Affairs drafted the National Nitrates Action Plan (NAP).
This Action Plan contains measures that cover all aspects of agricultural
production to reduce the levels of nitrates. It targets the contamination of
both surface and ground waters from nitrates derived from both organic and
inorganic fertilisers.
The European Nitrates Directive
(1991) and the National Nitrates Action Plan are important instruments in the
protection of water quality against nitrate pollution. Even if the goals and
guiding principles of the directive are clear and the associated Action Plan
has been adopted nationally, compliance has proved to be quite demanding for
Malta. For this reason, the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs has
decided to carry out an extensive information and communications campaign that
aims to communicate to Malta's farmers their key obligations under the European
Nitrates Directive and the associated Action Plan.
The project titled Information and
communications campaign for the proper use and management of nitrates in
agriculture and livestock breeding (LIFE10INF/MT/000092) is budgeted at
1,388,584€ of which 689,339€ will be financed through the European LIFE Programme. The project will last
until December 2013. This information and communications campaign is designed
to provide farmers and livestock breeders with information and training to act
in accordance with the European Nitrates Directive and the associated Action
Plan.
Throughout the campaign, all 849
full-time farmers and all 1,739 part-time farmers who hold more than 1.5
hectares of land will be receiving individual training. During these training
sessions the farmers will be provided with soil analysis kits and given
training on how to use them. In order to reach all farmers, there will be
persons available at the wholesale vegetable and fruit market at Ta' Qali to
assist farmers in any queries they might have in relation to the Nitrates
Action Plan. There will also be scientific officers, working at the Plant
Health Directorate, who will be carrying out soil analysis for an additional
3,000 farmers.
Training sessions will also be held
with all the 925 livestock breeders to communicate effectively the key
information messages of the campaign so that the project's objectives are realised.
There is also planned a number of
village meetings to give the opportunity to farmers and livestock breeders to
exchanges their views, ask questions and obtain further information. These
village meetings will be taking place in different localities around Malta and
Gozo.
Informative brochures and DVDs
containing a detailed explanation of the obligatory measures that lie within
the Nitrates Action Programme will be distributed to all farmers and livestock
breeders.
The project's key objectives include:
- To assist farmers and livestock
breeders to comply with the obligations of the Nitrates Directive.
- To make farmers and their households
aware of the harmful effects on health of excessive application of nitrogen
that contaminate groundwater resources.
- To make livestock breeders and their
households aware of the harmful effects on health of improper management of
animal manure that contributes to contamination of groundwater resources.
- To train farmers in changing their
farming practices so that nitrogen levels in soil are reduced through the
correct application of nitrogenous fertilisers.
- To train livestock breeders in the
proper management of animal manure so that nitrogen levels in soil are reduced.
Besides having beneficial effects on
the environment, compliance with the National Nitrates Action Plan will also
save farmers money. During the training sessions prominence will be given to
the importance of implementing a fertiliser plan. Such plan will be based on
the crop plan for a particular year. This plan will include details on the
amount of fertilizers and animal manures that need to be applied to the
different crops in a particular year.
In this way, the farmers can save on
fertilisers by applying only the necessary amounts while protecting the
environment.
Infonitrates