Research and Advisory board on Sustainable fertilisation
Research and Advisory board on Sustainable fertilisation
Previous efforts to improve the quality of ground and surface water have resulted in improvements, but in several regions in Flanders, the 50 mg nitrate per litre norm from the European Nitrate Directive (91/676/EEC) and water phosphorus quality norms for different water types from the Water Directive (2000/60/EG) have still not been achieved.
As part of the policies in MAP IV meant to help farmers, the research
and advisory board on sustainable fertilisation was created. The
advisory board consists of research centres, universities, university
colleges, research institutes and government agencies. The goal of
efficient research, demonstration and awareness actions, will be
achieved through structured meetings and interaction between the members
of the advisory board. These activities make it possible to:
gather all knowledge and expertise (both fundamental and applied) from Flanders,
avoid overlap between different research projects, and
promote an optimal transition from research to extension.
The specific tasks of the advisory board are:
to make an inventory of priority research needs,
to record research and extension themes,
to develop a research strategy for sustainable fertilisation that enable translation into practice, and
to advice the policy planning agency from both the agricultural and environmental points of view.
Since 2011 various research projects were started by order of the
Flemish Land Agency (VLM). The newly obtained research results are
combined with the existing expertise to help the farmers and
horticulturists to maintain the profitability of their enterprise while
operating within the maximum fertilisation rates and preconditions and
without jeopardizing the environmental goals.
Coordination
Chairman: Em. Prof. Dr. ir. Georges Hofman
Secretary: Dr. ir. Kristiaan Van Laecke
Coordinator: Dr. ir. Karoline D’Haene (Karoline.DHaene@ILVO.Vlaanderen.be)
