Denmark aims for organic agriculture

On 15 May the Folketing (Danish Parliament) called on the government to appoint an independent expert committee to assess the effects of a phase-out of all pesticide use in agriculture.

A number of left-wing Danish political parties want the country to be totally organic by 2010. The General Workers Union has added pressure through its campaign for a phase-out of all pesticides. The government committee will look at the impact of these proposals on production, economic, legal, health, employment and environmental aspects. The outcome of the its deliberations must be incorporated into future pesticide policy.

The committee's mandate
The National Agency of Environmental Protection will oversee a committee of experts from the research, agronomic, environmental, consumer, union, governmental, food industry and agrochemical sectors.
    Four expert sub-committees will prepare technical background reports to support the main committee's final report. They will assess the feasibility of total and partial pesticide phase-out scenarios, as well as the current initiatives for conversion from conventional to organic (ecological) agriculture. Each subcommittee will take account of the impact of pesticide reduction on the other three sectors. The mandate of the subcommittees will cover the following:

• The Agriculture subcommittee will outline non-chemical methods for combating pests, diseases and weeds by proposing relevant cultivation techniques, relying heavily on organic techniques which reduce pest problems.

• The Production, economy and employment subcommittee will look at the income and gross margins for different cultivation systems. Its brief will cover  costs of conversion, environmental cost-benefits-such as cleaning and monitoring drinking water-and the economic impact on consumers.

• The Environment and health subcommittee will assess the consequences on ground and surface water in terms of the effect on wildlife and people. It will look at the impact on terrestrial ecosystems, including agricultural ecosystems as a resource for flora and fauna, and it will assess risks to health from proposed cultivation systems.

• The Legislation subcommittee will particularly focus on how such a policy would affect relationships with other member states of the European Union.

Conclusion  
The main committee will deliver a report to the Ministers of Environment and Energy by the end of 1998. So far only the chair has been appointed-the rest of the committee will be chosen in the next few weeks.
    Jesper Lund-Larsen of the General Workers Union said: "I hope the committee will recommend a total pesticide phase-out within a couple of years, and we are looking for the rest of the EU to do the same eventually."
    Nina Herskind of the Danish Agency of Environmental Protection played down the more extreme aspects. She said: "The proposal does not automatically mean that Danish agriculture will go totally organic in the next few years, it is just one of the scenarios that we are seriously considering."
    Nevertheless, the proposal is a radical plan. The task ahead is challenging-both for Denmark and for organic agriculture. It will help to prove one way or the other whether organic agriculture can stand up as a mainstream agricultural philosophy, or remain in the small-time niche market sector. (DB)

National Agency of Environmental Protection, Denmark.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 37, September 1997, page 9]