Slovakia’s 270,000 small-scale family farms are facing a
challenge, and so far with little advice to help them meet the pressures or
opportunities brought by entry into the European Union. The former state farms
of the Soviet period have been largely privatised into 6,500 commercial farms
and just over 20% of these are more than 1000 ha in size(1).
European entry is expected to increase the use of
agrochemicals because of subsidies available, and a lack of environmental
awareness among farmers. Pesticide use has been increasing steadily since 1999,
and the 3,995 tonnes of pesticides applied in 2002 represented an increase of
17% on the previous year (see graph)(2). Over half, 53%, is herbicide use,
followed by 16% fungicides, 7% insecticides, and 23% of other products. Chemical
fertiliser application in 2002 reached 58.6 kg/ha, after increasing at a rate of
about 10% a year since 1999. This still represents a massive drop from the peak
of Soviet agriculture, when farmers were applying at the rate of 239 kg/ha. A
key problem in Slovakia is the amount of obsolete pesticides, poorly stored
without identification.
Ecological agriculture in Slovakia is considerably weaker
than in the old European Union countries, and than its neighbouring countries.
In 2002 there were a mere 65 farmers and 11 corporate enterprises, making up 2%
of agricultural land. An organic farmers’ association, Ekotrend, has been
established, and more than 90% of its products are exported(3).
| Table 1. Agricultural land in Slovakia, 2002 | ||
| The usage of area | Area in ha (in 000’s) | Share of agric. land (in %) |
| Arable land | 1 433.20 | 58.78 |
| Stable grass lands | 881.86 | 36.17 |
| Market gardens | 77.42 | 3.18 |
| Vineyards | 27.05 | 1.10 |
| Fruit gardens | 18.22 | 0.75 |
| Hops | 0.60 | 0.02 |
| Total agriculture land | 2 438.35 | 100.00 |
| Overall area of Slovakia | 4 903.42 | - |
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Joining the European Union
Environmentally responsible agriculture and organic
food production is not expanding. Although the current use of agrochemicals is
rather low, this has more to do with the country’s economy and the perspective
will change with Slovakia joining the EU. That could endanger the high farmland
biodiversity and excellent water quality. Farmers have virtually no access to
training or advice and lack knowledge of good agricultural practice.
Pesticide residues in food
Monitoring of pesticide residues in food is carried
out by an official body, the Institute for food research (Výskumný ústav
potravinársky) which takes regular samples. An analysis4 by experts from the
Institute of Preventive and Clinical Medicine focused on the official monitoring
of food residues presented in July 2003 by the Slovak Ministry of Agriculture.
Monitoring found no pesticide residues exceeding the limits. But the critical
study pointed out that monitoring methods were inadequate. The study found the
monitoring analysed 3,853 food samples and 39 different pesticide active
ingredients in a country where more than 200 pesticides are registered.
From these 3,853 samples, 73% were animal products, and only
15.5% were plant products, including 6.8% vegetables and 0.2% fruits. This was
criticised for not reflecting today’s production methods in which fruit and
vegetable products are as much at risk rom pesticide residues as animal based
products. Also, 94% of the monitoring of imported food was based on animal
products and only 2.4% plant-based; 2.2% of vegetables and 0.9% of fruit: this
contributed to the unbalanced monitoring.
The monitoring methodology only concentrated on
‘classical’ pesticides, whereas the globalisation of trade meant all modern
agrochemicals should have been included. Much of this can be blamed on lack of
money, but the Slovakian state is responsible for providing safe food, applying
the polluter pays principle and developing an appropriate monitoring system.
Cooperative networking
Based on this situation as well as poor communication
by the state authorities with public bodies, the Center for the Environment and
Public Advocacy (CEPA) decided to try to combine all the interested NGOs in
Slovakia linked with agriculture. This was a success, and on 26 March 2004 the
Agro-eco forum was launched, including15 NGOs such as Bird Life, Greenpeace and
Friends of the Earth. The main aim of the Agro-eco forum is to support
sustainable agriculture and the production of organic food through information,
political pressure and practical activities in the regions.
1. Ministry of the Environment, Report on the Slovak environment in 2002, pp 151-153, 2003.
2. Ministry for Agriculture, Pesticide use, 2003.
3. Janovicek D, Interview on ecological agriculture in Slovakia, Ekotrend, August 2003.
4. Uhnak J, Szokolay A, Analysis of the monitoring and control system of pesticides residuals in fruit and vegetables in SR, for Greenpeace Slovakia, 2004.
For more information on Agro-eco contact Daniel Lesinsky, CEPA – Center for environmental public advocacy, lesinsky@changenet.sk
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 64, June 2004, page 10]