De Groot: 'Organic is not circular agriculture'

Organic farming is not circular farming. Organic agriculture is a forerunner in the field of circular agriculture. That is what Tjeerd de Groot, Member of Parliament for D66, said at the Biobeurs in Zwolle.

De Groot gathered many audiences at the fair. They urged the D66 member that organic farming should be seen more as circular agriculture. Organic as such should be included in Minister Schouten's vision. Because, it was stated, organic farming is at the forefront when it comes to circular agriculture. De Groot partly agrees, but notes that organic farming can also make further strides in this area.

Less consideration for existing guard
According to De Groot, regular agriculture has misunderstood Minister Schouten's circular vision. "People think 'we have been doing circular agriculture for a long time, because we already use a lot of residual products', but it is of course nonsense that, for example, soy meal is seen as a residual product. As a politician, we should not take too much account of the existing guard."

De Groot recognizes that the market is important for sustainable agriculture. "The FrieslandCampinas and Vions of this world have to think less in terms of bulk production, but more in terms of quality production. They are not yet sufficiently aware of this. We have to force them and the supermarkets to take more serious efforts to make agriculture more sustainable."

System is wrong
According to De Groot, the system is not right now: "There is no car manufacturer that produces as many cars as it can based on the amount of steel it gets. That is what happens in the current agricultural sector." De Groot believes that there is now a lot of talk about the nitrogen crisis, while Minister Schouten should take the bull by the horns and continue in the transition to circular agriculture."

The public asked whether there should be a price reduction for organic products compared to conventional products. This can be done, for example, by lowering or even eliminating VAT on organic products. However, De Groot saw no point in this as he expects the supermarkets and processing industry to add this price reduction to their profit margin.

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

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