Circular agriculture: the 4 correctnesses of fertilization

Our agricultural ministers, who had to organize the transition from low-productivity to high-productivity after the Second World War, also had ample budgets at their disposal. Then a successful policy is assured, especially if that budget is used wisely.

That happened in those years too, when a large part of the budget was spent on the establishment and maintenance of government institutions for agricultural research, independent agricultural extension and agricultural education. It was sometimes said that behind every 3 farmers there was a civil servant who could help agricultural entrepreneurs with business development for free. With this formula, this transition was a fact in more than 20 years.

After that, the government also had to interfere less with business development. For example, the national agricultural information service no longer exists, and neither does the Institute for Soil Fertility. This is where the foundation of Dutch fertilization practice was laid: advice based on soil research. As far as I'm concerned, that's the cornerstone of productivity gains.

On to high circularity
The government and parliament in the Netherlands wish to transform the high-yielding agricultural sector from low-circular to high-circular between now and 2030. This task is for the Ministers of Agriculture from now and those of the next decade as large as those of their predecessors in the post-war period. This while the current ministers will have little to spend. The budget is the smallest of the national budget, and amounts to less than €1 billion. In addition, about half of this is needed for the implementation of European policy (via the Netherlands Enterprise Agency) and for supervision (via the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority).

However, much more than conducting initiating policy using the vision notes, a Minister of Agriculture can not do today. This is in the expectation that agricultural companies will develop in the desired direction on their own, supported by, among other things, an adequate European agricultural policy and by stakeholders (such as suppliers, customers and advisers).

Focus on circular agriculture
The many positive reactions to the vision paper 'The Netherlands as a frontrunner in circular agriculture' prove that such an initiating policy can be effective. A recent example of this is the contribution that Meststoffen Nederland, the professional organization of producers and distributors of mineral fertilizers, has announced that it will make a contribution to information about circular fertilization. This is described in the document 'KunstMest 4.0', which was published 2 weeks ago and can be seen as a follow-up to the position statement on sustainable fertilization (2015).

In both documents the 4 correctnesses of fertilization are discussed, but in KunstMest 4.0 that method is central. Central to this is the goal to circular raw materials and the advice to apply according to the 4 correctnesses of Fertilizer 4.0: the right product, in the right amount, at the right time and in the right place.

Good news
This is good news for agricultural entrepreneurs who work in open cultivation and for growers who want to use circular fertilizers. Until now, they can little information about finding in the 2 official manuals for fertilization. The right products, in the right place. In short: placing fertilizers that have been produced in a circular way in the root zone. This also has consequences for the dosage and the time of fertilization.

Fertilizers Netherlands has been represented for years in the committees that publish both manuals. We can therefore expect a revision of the manuals soon. The right way to fertilize is certainly possible: without dosing in tramlines, without under- and over-dosing on headlands and field edges, without leaching and run-off and without volatilization. After all, many of the growers already do this and they often use circularly produced fertilizers. It does them no harm. Their example deserves to be followed and new official fertilization information will be very helpful.

Circular fertilization, and thus circular agriculture, will then take shape. The machines are there, so are the fertilizers. Now come the advice. It is hoped that the stakeholders will now also be inspired by the mineral fertilizer sector and will come up with a similar vision and commitment, because it must come from them and Brussels in the transition. After all, agricultural entrepreneurs want and can do it.

Herre Bartlema

Herre Bartlema is chairman of the NCOK: Netherlands Center for the Development of Circular Precision Agriculture. The aim: to promote the application of practical precision farming techniques to contribute to a clean sector.

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