Minister Barry Madlener of Infrastructure and Water Management and Minister Femke Wiersma of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature have agreed to initiate additional measures to improve water quality in greenhouse areas. This was discussed in the Administrative Consultation on the Water Framework Directive (BO KRW).
Not meeting the standards for plant protection products and fertilizers is undesirable for people and nature, and hinders the achievement of the goals of the Water Framework Directive whilst impeding the sustainability of the greenhouse horticulture sector. Improving water quality is therefore clearly a common interest, argues Guus Meis on behalf of Glastuinbouw Nederland in a reaction to the news.
Leaks from greenhouses
The agenda of the BO WFD on 20 January included a long list (in Dutch) of measures to be taken up by a variety of parties, from greenhouse horticulture companies to governments. Stijn van Boxmeer, initiator of the agenda-setting and Delfland Water Board, thinks it is important to speed up remedying leaks and getting the greenhouses closed. "This set of additional measures has been arrived at jointly with a large number of parties to preserve the license to operate of greenhouse horticulture. From the water board, we are going to be extra keen to ensure that the greenhouse is closed. Extra attention from entrepreneurs is needed to remedy leaks and stop norm violations".
Water coaches
During the preparation of the list of measures, a call was made to parties in the trade chain to impose requirements on how products are grown. Gardeners are strongly tied to the economic incentives in the trade chains of their products. The chain can ensure that it pays to produce cleanly and that shoddy work becomes unattractive. Glastuinbouw Nederland involves parties in the chain and points horticulturists to concrete measures to prevent the leakage of fertilizers and crop protection agents.
The organization also calls for the even larger-scale deployment of water coaches. Water coaches have the knowledge to advise horticulturists on how to remedy the weak links in the greenhouse to prevent the leakage of fertilizers and crop protection agents. Every farm has blind spots and water coaches help address them. Supervisors are thus relieved of the burden and can then focus much more specifically on farms in risk categories, such as those where it is not yet clear whether they are justified in declaring that they do not discharge water.
Coordinated approach
Coordination over the elaboration and implementation of the measures lies with the Sustainable Glasshouse Horticulture Platform. This is a partnership of Glastuinbouw Nederland, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W), the province of South Holland, the Union of Water Boards on behalf of the water boards and the municipality of Westland on behalf of the greenhouse horticulture municipalities.
Municipalities also have a role in achieving better water quality through their responsibility for adequate sewerage. This is important to phase out discharges to local surface water. It is also important for municipalities to engage environment services to supervise discharges through the sewerage system and discharges through the soil, such as leakage flows. Water boards are responsible for monitoring surface water, such as the ditches around greenhouses.
Emissions down
The Dutch greenhouse horticulture sector has set itself the goal of achieving near-zero emissions of crop protection agents and nutrients in 2027. Considerable efforts are still needed from horticulturists to achieve this. With the letter 'Goed huisvaderschap', Glastuinbouw Nederland announced its own measures to improve water quality, including an extra focus on limiting plant protection product use to the most necessary level.
The Ministry of I&M has recently initiated a number of legislative changes. These are aimed, among other things, at helping water boards and environmental services with more efficient supervision. As a result, they can check a larger number of companies for compliance with environmental regulations. The list of measures also includes faster feedback of measured standard exceedances of crop protection products by water boards, so that horticulturists can identify and eliminate the cause of those standard exceedances more quickly.
"It is a good example that makes it clear that the cooperation between horticulturists and authorities is crucial to be able to improve water quality. We have that responsibility together," said Michiel van Haersma Buma, chairman of the Sustainable Glasshouse Horticulture Platform.
Source: Glastuinbouw Nederland
Photo: GroentenNieuws archive