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2.2.1        Intensity of agricultural practices

Despite the apparent dichotomy between conventional and sustainable agricultural systems, which often dominates public debate, farms are best mapped against a gradient of more or less sustainable farm practices. The intensity of agricultural practices, and their level of can be characterised in several ways (Ruiz-Martinez et al., 2015):

• The use in mineral and organic fertilisers and plant-protection products.
• The extent of irrigated areas and the associated infrastructure such as storage schemes.
• The use of drainage to increase land productivity and reclaim land.
• The level of specialisation in production types, which describes the dominant activity in farm income, and indicates a simplification of production practices.

Use of mineral and organic fertilisers

Nitrogen and phosphorus are, together with potassium, the primary nutrients and key for plant growth and metabolic processes. Nutrient application on agricultural land contributes to higher crop yields and maintaining soil fertility (Lassaletta et al., 2014). Several techniques can be used to fertilise land, including the use of mineral (synthetic) fertilizers, the use of organic fertilizer, such as manure and sewage sludge, and biological fixation of nitrogen, for example through N-fixing crops such as legumes. Thanks to fertilization of agricultural land, it is estimated that one ha of land in Europe can now feed 4.3 persons as opposed to 1.9 persons in 1908 (Erisman et al., 2008).

The use of mineral fertilizers in the 20^th century has increased dramatically in Europe (Figure x). It is estimated that the use of mineral fertilizer per ha increased five-fold between the 1950s to the 1980s at European level, with Eastern and Central Europe seeing the largest increase (26 times). Between the 1980s and 1990s, mineral fertiliser use decreased by about 30%, following a drop in the early 1990s with the changed political system but also thanks to a changing policy framework (see Chapter 4). Trends since 2008 do not show any further significant reduction in mineral fertiliser use and consumption has remained stable except yearly fluctuations mostly due to the price of fertilisers (ESTAT, 2020e). This hides large variations between countries.

Currently, Europe is responsible for 12% of the global mineral fertilizer consumption (FAO, 2019), and around 75% of the agricultural area in Europe is fertilized using mineral fertilisers (ESTAT, 2020c). Nitrogen fertiliser consumption per hectare of fertilised UAA currently stand at 77.2 kg per ha (ESTAT, 2020e), with the highest use (above 100 kg/ha) in the Czech Republic, Denmark and the Benelux countries. Phosphorous fertiliser consumption stands at 8,6 kg/ha, with the highest use in southern and eastern Europe, in particular Cyprus, Croatia and Hungary.

The use of organic fertiliser has also increased significantly through the 20^th century, in particular the use of manure from a growing livestock population (Sutton et al., 2011). The use of manure is higher in countries with a large livestock production. Livestock density varies significantly across the EU (Figure x). Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Cyprus and Ireland have the highest livestock densities. These countries also show the highest rates of manure input in relation to their agricultural area (over 98 kg N per ha per year) (ESTAT, 2020d). In contrast, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia have the lowest livestock densities and also belong to the countries with the lowest rates of manure input per ha (less than 30 kg N per ha per year).

Manure contains also various chemicals, in particular metals such as zinc, copper and in the case of liquid pig manure, arsenic- from livestock-feed additives, and residuals from antibiotics and anti-parasite medicines. Data shows that 40 to 90 per cent of the active ingredients of these medicines are excreted intact by the livestock (Sarmah et al., 2006; (Kołodziejska et al., 2013). 

Data on other organic fertilisers (except manure) are lacking in many countries and the significance of these fertilisers in agriculture could be underestimated (ESTAT, 2017). For example, re-use of nitrogen from sewage sludge of wastewater treatment plants can be significant. It was estimated that nearly 50% of sewage sludge was disposed on agricultural land in 2011 in the EU-27 (Pellegrini et al., 2016).

Overall, nitrogen inputs to soils largely consist of mineral fertilisers (45%) and manure input (38%), followed by atmospheric deposition (8%) and biological nitrogen fixation (6%), (ESTAT, 2020c). Mineral fertilisers and manure accounted for more than 93 % of the phosphorus input to agricultural areas in EU-28 between 2010 and 2014. Other organic fertilisers, such as compost, sewage sludge and industrial waste, accounted for little more than 5 % of total phosphorus inputs (ESTAT, 2020f).

Use of plant-protection products

Plant-protection products such as pesticides and herbicides are substances used to prevent or control any pest causing harm during the production of agricultural products. The products contain at least one active substance and have one of the following functions:

• protect plants or plant products against pests/diseases, before or after harvest;
• influence the life processes of plants;
• preserve plant products;
• destroy or prevent growth of undesired plants or parts of plants.

Current information on the application of plant protection products across Europe remains very limited, which is why the total volume sold (or their value) are usually used as a proxy for quantifying application. In the EU-27, the total pesticide sale is around 360 000 tonnes per year (Figure 2.3). This has not changed between time period 2011 to 2018, although significant differences exist between member states with Cyprus, Austria, France and Slovakia showing the highest increase and Portugal, Ireland Czechia and Italy showing the largest decrease (ESTAT, 2020a).

Irrigated areas

In Europe, the main crop cultivation period takes place during spring and summer, which typically coincides with a high average water deficit between rainfall and landscape evapotranspiration. Water stress is detrimental to crops when it occurs at critical growth periods, such as flowering, seed formation or ripening. The sensitivity of the crop types to water shortages differs. Some crops can maintain relatively high yields, despite water stress conditions, whereas other crops may fail under similar conditions (e.g. fruits). Some of the most water demanding crops are wheat, barley and maize. Farmers may development irrigated areas to increase the productivity of their land or as an “insurance” against climate risks, to maintain yields and the quality of crops when rain lacks.

The share of permanently irrigated area in Europe is limited to 2% of land use in Europe (EEA39), and total irrigable area, i.e. agricultural area equipped for irrigation, represents 9% of UAA (in 2016), equivalent to 15. 5 million ha (ESTAT, 2019b). The irrigated area - the actual amount of land irrigated - is usually smaller and can vary significantly from year to year due to inter-annual variability in weather conditions, selected crop species to meet market demand, the irrigation strategy of the farmer, and the presence of legal restriction.

Irrigable and irrigated agricultural areas vary greatly among countries mainly because of regional climate and type of production. Overall, crop production in Europe is largely rainfed in the more temperate and humid countries of northern Europe, although irrigation may be used occasionally to complement rainwater. Pockets of intensively irrigated areas exist for example in The Netherlands which has a specialist vegetable and horticulture production. In southern Europe, irrigable and irrigated areas are more widely present, the largest share of irrigated areas compared to their UAA being in Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Italy. Rainfed production is limited to specific crop types, such as wheat, olives, vines and autumn vegetables, though many of these crops are also grown under irrigated conditions in order to increase yields. Irrigation can be an important source of added value in crop production. In Spain, for example, more than 60% of the total value of the country’s agricultural output comes from the 14% of irrigated agricultural land.

The area of irrigable agricultural land in some Member States has increased significantly since the 1960s. For example, the area in Italy has doubled and in Spain even tripled. This increase is not the equivalent to the increase in the area actually irrigated. In Spain, for example, the area actually irrigated increased by about 40% between 1990 and 2003 (FAO, 2020) Between 2005 and 2016, irrigable and irrigated areas declined by 3,5% and 6,1% respectively. However, changes are markedly different between countries: the share of irrigable area in the Netherland increased by 8% while it decreased by 10% in Greece.

Irrigated agriculture often leads to water storage, the construction of irrigation channels and in some cases water transfer between catchments to serve irrigation needs. The countries with the highest percentage of large dams/reservoirs being used for irrigation (as single-purpose or multi-purpose reservoirs) are located in southern Europe (i.e. Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France), (ICOLD, 2020). Spain has the largest number of large reservoirs in Europe, while Cyprus has the highest density. The majority of dams were developed in the 1960s and 1980s facilitating extensive river water abstraction, mainly for irrigation (Zogaris et al., 2012). These statistics do not include the large numbers of smaller reservoirs used by one or small groups of irrigators. For example, it is estimated that in France alone as much as 125 000 of those existed in 2000 (Carluer et al., 2016a). As droughts increasingly stricken agriculture, the push for creating additional water storage is increasing.

Drainage schemes

Many of the soils of northern Europe are too wet for optimal crop and pasture production. Excess water can result in waterlogging and favour the spread of crop diseases, affecting crop yields negatively. Drainage techniques are used to remove excess water from the soil to lower the groundwater level. Drainage is sometimes used in combination with irrigation techniques for optimal control of soil water content. Across Europe, 17% of arable land area is drained to optimise crop production.

In low-lying areas such as floodplains and coastal areas, much land has been reclaimed for agriculture, often over centuries. Typical situations of land reclamation include the modification of a river with multiple channels into a river with one single channel, or the combination of floodplain drainage with dikes for flood protection. Land reclamation also occurs around lakes, typically by lowering the mean lake water level to gain land for agriculture, forestry or urbanization (Vartia et al., 2018).

In addition, it was common practice in the past to channelize or straighten the streams meandering through agricultural lands. Straightening the channel was mainly done to reduce the wetness of the soil in order to enable an earlier land use and a more profitable land use. Straightening the channel also made the fields more farmable because they could be farmed along a straight waterway. Straightening and sometimes widening and/or deepening of a river stretch is often done in order to maximize drainage surplus water.

Farm specialisation and diversification

The level of specialisation can considerably increase the pressure on water (Le Noë et al., 2018). Specialised regions present less diverse livestock and cropping patterns. Regions highly specialised in livestock production are more likely to have nutrient surpluses because it is not possible to spread all of the manure produced on the farm. In contrast, regions highly specialised in crop specialist may face a nutrient deficit due to lack of available manure, and rely on mineral fertilisers. Mixed farming usually build on the synergies of livestock and crop production to increase nutrient recycling at farm level.

Although diversification can improve synergies between crop and livestock production, it is important to note that the relationship between diversification and use of nutrient or chemical inputs is not straightforward. For example intensively managed diverse crop systems can result for example result in increased use of nitrogen and plant protection products (Herzog et al., 2006).

Overall, agriculture in the EU-28 is highly specialised, with the majority of agricultural holdings are either crop or livestock specialists, respectively representing 52% and 25% of all agricultural holdings (ESTAT, 2020k). Crop and livestock specialist manage 84% of UAA. Only 21% of all holdings are mixed crop-livestock farms, managing 16% of UAA. Since 2005, the share of crop specialists has increased in all but one member states (Cyprus), mainly due to a decline in mixed farming.

At regional level, high levels of field crop specialisation can be observed in parts of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and the United-Kingdom, while high levels of specialisation in grazing livestock exists in Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden, France and the United Kingdom (ESTAT, 2020h). Specialisation in permanent crops exist particularly around the Mediterranean.