The committee's proposal to reduce the average number of times per year that crops are sprayed with pesticides is likely to prove most controversial. It recommends that the index of application frequency should be cut from about 2.5 now to 1.3 over the next ten years. This could be achieved without damaging agricultural competitiveness, it concludes. Environment minister Svend Auken immediately announced this afternoon that the government would seek to reduce the index to 2 by 2002. The committee and the government now appear to be favouring the tougher measure of success on the grounds that it correlates better with environmental impacts as pesticide active ingredients become more concentrated.
Officials say much of the reduction can be achieved through better agricultural practices.
Several pilot projects of farmers working closely with agricultural advisory services have achieved spraying frequencies of just 1.3, they report. It recommended that the government consider changing the structure of taxes on pesticides from a value added tax to one based on the frequency of application. Responding to the report, a Greenpeace spokesperson accused the government of giving in to farmers and of underestimating the problems that pesticides are causing for groundwater the source of most Danish drinking water supplies. The group has asked for the results of an expanded programme of groundwater quality monitoring to be made public as soon as possible. The Bichel report, with a summary in English, can be downloaded from the ministry's web pages.