& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

A Return to Biological Farming

by Jean-Marc Dupuich
THANKS to the Minister of the Environment, water has been a much talked of subject over the last year, and the drought of summer 1990 has made the protection of the water table an even more sensitive problem. The main cause of water pollution by nitrates is the over-use of fertilisers by Intensive farming and the liquid manure resulting from an Imai husbandry off the soil, in particular pig-breeding.
The development of 1nten i slve farming is closely linked | to the massive use of chemical fertilisers. In 1950, 14 million tonnes of It were sold In the world, In 1985 it was 125 mil lion tonnes.
This development of Inten stve farming, which causes pollution by nitrates, goes together with the increasing use of pesticides, toxic traces of which are found in food. A field of cereals is sprayed 8 or 9 times a year with fertilisers, I fungicides, insecticides, herb! rides and growth stabilisers
In order to appease people, farming professionals have un dertaken to rationalise the use of chemical fertilisers and the Ministry of Agriculture Is encouraging the production of ecological fertilisers (such as fodder-rape and mustard) whk-h fix the nitrates In the soil, as otherwise, they would be washed away by mln Into the water table.
However, the situation is absurd. The overproduction of wheat leads to the creation of large stocks and so farmers are given grants to leave land fal low, and yet they continually seek lo Increase their yield, spending on fertilisers and treatments
The solution to intensive farming, proposed by Mr MacSherry. In Brussels, Is treated with suspicion by those concerned They feel their In come Is at stake
Yet the professional
magazine "Cultivar', which is not expected to sympathise with alternative farming na-th ods. reveals an experience which sliould provide food for thought, feats carried out over four years prow that averagely manured land for cereal crops was more profitable than identical areas of land which had been treated intensively.
The reduced yield per hectare was compensated for by the reduction in 'he amount spent on fertilisers Moreover, on a soil that had been less "improved", the crops were more resident to diseases and certain treatments were unnecessary As the title of the article In the magazine stated.
Intensive farming, which is responsible for pollution and damage to the environment, is gradually giv-ing way to ecological farming, carried out by more responsible France farmers who are more aware of their role as guardians of nature.
'Intensive farming is being called into question".
— the key to the fertility of the land —
This experiment was car rled out in the framework of chemically enhanced agrlcul ture Biological farming, on the other hand, does not use chemical fertilisers or artificial pesticides. Al last, the public authorities and firms are becoming Interested in this area
In the United States and in Europe, experimental pro grammes are being launched land these are attracting the attention of big names in the food-processing Industries such as 'Pioneer", the Arne rican giant for maize The purpose Is lo make this form of farming more profitable, by testing Its capacity of rests tance to Insects and to dis
The principle of this farming method is modest. It is called crop rotation. A return Is being made to this method tradition or a hankering for the past, but because It corresponds to the needs of the soil and the crops The rotation system. which controlled the crop cycle until It was rejected by the need for specialisation Imposed by Intensive farming, is Improved and systemized. Rotation Is practised over 1 ] years, alternating the crops according to their characteristic and giving the soil a rest by
"Rotation Is the key to the fertility of the soil and to the fight against weods and parasites". Pierre V er elJ ken. an agronomist-engineer in the Netherlands, explains. "Plants have very different needs. Some of them,, such carrots and potatoes, consume a lot of nitrates, others, such as cereals. need leas. Others still, such as alfalfa and clover, produce nitrates'.
Alfalfa and clover, which naturally enrich the soil and provide green fodder in summer and dry fodder In winter, have been given up tn favour of silage maize whose excessive acidity is bad for the health of cattle Butterflies danced around their blue, mauve and pink flowers. The fields of clover and alfalfa have disappeared. like the butterflies which also used to settle In the hawthorn, blackthorn, hazelnut and dog rose hedgerows.
But the hedges which held water, acted as windbreaks and prevented erosion have ail too often been ripped up by bulldozers when small parcels of land were grouped together Into big farms for intensive farming Farmers need to once more become the guardians of nature.
Lactualftc EN France