The Dutch arable and horticultural sectors face significant challenges such as reducing emissions into water, improving biodiversity in farmland, and adapting to climate change. According to the PBL publication Challenges for Arable and Horticultural Farming, farmers can only achieve this in collaboration with governments, buyers, and suppliers. An urgent long-term vision to achieve the goals is necessary. A common sustainability standard can facilitate long-term agreements for rewarding environmental and nature performances.
A prerequisite for sustainability is that agriculture continues to produce sufficient and healthy food, especially in light of recent geopolitical developments and the increasing vulnerability due to climate change (such as increasing drought and water damage). At the same time, farmers must be able to earn a decent living.
This report maps the current situation in land-based arable and horticultural farming and describes the challenges the sector faces. Subsequently, the report explores possible development directions for arable and horticultural farming and describes policy options to stimulate the transition to sustainable agriculture. This study was conducted at the request of the PBL management.
Arable and Horticultural Farming Faces Limits
Sustainability is not only necessary to reduce the effects of arable and horticultural farming on biodiversity and soil and surface water quality. The sector itself is also facing limits. For example, due to tightened EU regulations, there are fewer and fewer crop protection products available to combat diseases and pests. This can lead to pest organisms eventually becoming resistant to these products. Farmers must then look for alternatives. Moreover, the current arable and horticultural farming is increasingly affected by drought and water damage due to climate change. Farmers currently cope with drought damage by irrigation, but water availability is decreasing. Due to all these developments, many farmers see the need to become more sustainable. However, they encounter barriers, for example, because it is difficult to charge the premium for sustainable products in the current agricultural system.
Technological or Nature-Inclusive Arable Farming
In the debate about the future of agriculture, technological and nature-inclusive solutions are often juxtaposed. In reality, a combination of both is necessary. For example, technological measures can contribute to improving water quality. Think of precision farming and measures that reduce the drift of crop protection products to surface water. But for the protection of plant and animal species dependent on farmland, it is also necessary to create hedges, copses, and field margins and to include flowering crops such as protein crops in the crop rotation.
Collaboration Between Government and Private Sector Needed; Government Provides Framework
Farmers can only make the step towards sustainable agriculture in collaboration with the government and private parties. In this collaboration, the government must create a realistic long-term vision for the goals it wants to achieve with regulations and subsidies. Continuity in regulations and subsidies is important for farmers to recoup investments in new technologies or crops. Governments and private parties can work together on a common sustainability standard, as previously proposed in the draft Agricultural Agreement. Changes in EU law provide more room for this. Finally, it is desirable for farmers to combine rewards from different (private and public) sources. To achieve an attractive and effective overall package, governments and private parties will need to work closely together.