The advice on good farming practice
contained in a number of Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food documents is
not reaching farmers, a recent survey has found. The three Codes of Practice
published between 1991 and 1993 have covered air, soil and water. However, less
than half of all the farmers surveyed were aware of any of the codes and only
one in five have a copy of the code.
Code ownership is often associated with good agricultural
practice. The good practice appears to exist already, and is not stimulated by a
further reference to the codes. Farmers who are not conforming with good
practice do not feel they need advice, and generally seem to have little
interest in acquiring any of the codes.
Only 13% of farmers who had a Soil Code of Practice said
workers on their farm had seen it. The figures for the Air and Water Codes were
9% each. Few farmers were interested in more advice. Not surprisingly the
researchers, Taylor Nelson, recommended more effort should be put into
awareness-raising and dissemination of the codes. However, as increasing
deregulation puts more and more of the onus for good practice on farmers, it is
clear that the voluntary message is not yet getting across.
Report on evaluation of codes of good
agricultural practice, Circular, Environmental Protection Division, MAFF, Ergon
House, c/o Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR,.
[This
article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 33, September 1996,
page 25]