The Green Deal, with which the EU wants to become “climate neutral” by 2050, sets very ambitious goals. By 2030, farmers should reduce the use of pesticides by 50%, but also the use of chemical fertilizers by 20%. In addition, they must commit at least ¼ of their soils to organic crops, while at a rate of 4% set-aside is required, in order to protect biodiversity, but also to recover the soil nutrients. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides may increase yields on conventional crops, but also increase the risks to the environment, causing arable land saturation, groundwater pollution and increased carbon dioxide emissions.
Higher yields, fewer organic crops?
However, the war in Ukraine is changing the data of the equation. Both Russian attacks on Ukraine and Western sanctions on Russia affect the production of basic necessities, and both countries are among the world’s largest exporters of food such as cereals, sunflower oil, soybeans and corn. Speaking to Deutsche Welle, Roman Schlaston, general manager of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), which represents the interests of the agri-food sector in Ukraine, described the situation as follows: “There is no economic activity in the areas occupied by the Russian troops. There is no fuel either, Russian tanks are circulating on the streets. “We are in central Ukraine, but our reserves have been destroyed.” A Dutch farmer, Kees Huizinga, who years ago settled on a farm 200 km south of Kiev, told Deutsche Welle that “for farmers in Ukraine, wherever their produce is, it is almost impossible to export it. . This is because all ports in southern Ukraine remain under Russian siege. “
In Germany, members of the ruling Liberal Liberal Party (FDP) and the Christian Democratic Opposition (CDU) are calling for a halt to “climate-neutral” agricultural policies so that there is no shortage of food due to the dramatic developments in Ukraine. The same is suggested by the farmers’ unions. As Stephen von Cramon-Taubandel, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Tübingen, puts it, “the international market certainly needs extra food to make up for the losses from Ukraine and Russia.” “Already today the warehouses are half empty, if you consider the breaks in the supply chain caused by the pandemic, but also the reduced harvest in Canada, due to widespread drought.”
“If we produce less, others will produce more”
Organic supermarket
German Agriculture Minister Cem Edzdemir assures – and reiterated at the last G7 summit – that the EU is not going to deal with food shortages. However, the poorest countries are already experiencing significant increases in food and are worried about potential food problems. Should the EU postpone its targets for “climate neutral” agriculture in order to increase its production and exports, helping to solve it? problem? “What is certain is that if we in Europe produce less food, then others will produce more, engage in more intensive crops and then the risks to the environment will increase there,” said Stefan von Cramon-Taubandel.
Thomas Herzfeld, director of the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Economics (IAMO), gives an example: coal, consequently increasing environmental costs “. Experts estimate that, with these data, it would be better to improve conventional farming methods, rather than insist on a direct transition to organic crops, which will be less efficient. This does not mean, however, that we should renounce the new regulations on fertilizers and pesticides. “Water protection remains a top priority and that does not change because we want to increase agricultural production,” said Thomas Herzfeld.
Deutsche Welle
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