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On 20th March, Safer Phosphates contributed to the public consultation on the upcoming “Farm-to-Fork strategy” notably to highlight once again the importance of attending to the accumulation of heavy metals in arable land due to the use of inorganic and organo-mineral Fertilisers.
Fertilisers are of the utmost importance for EU agriculture as they can provide soil with sufficient nutrients to help grow crops. However, climate change and a more demanding market of agricultural products requires us to rethink the use of fertilising products as an essential product for farmers, our arable fields and our crops.
We therefore must ensure a sustainable agriculture that pays attention to the protection of our soils by ensuring a smart approach in our use of fertilisers.
Organo-mineral fertilisers and mineral fertilisers are necessary in our agriculture, there is no doubt. They allow us to provide enough nutrients into our fields and to get them ready for harvest when needed even more so in times of droughts or any climate impacts. It is nevertheless true that these types of products also contain heavy metals and contaminants which naturally occur during the extraction of the raw materials. It is in this angle that there are enough margins to act and create an impact which can ensure sufficient soil protection.
Technology and research can provide us with enough tools to evolve towards a smart way of manufacturing and placing safe fertilisers on the market by reducing the accumulation of heavy metals and contaminants such as Cadmium, lead or arsenic in our arable land.
But we can and should be more ambitious by adopting now a more horizontal approach which covers the Common Agricultural Policy and of course the “Farm-to-Fork strategy” notably through:
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1. A “Farm to Fork” strategy promoting the use of low-contaminated fertilisers
2. Creating synergies with the EU fertilisers Regulation
3. Reduction of use of highly contaminated fertilisers.
Secretary General of Safer Phosphates
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