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In the Noord-Brabant case study of the Netherlands, 11 of the 39 abstraction sites for drinking water are impacted by pesticides. Here, a contract between farmers and the province is put in place including an agreement on reduced use of pesticides. The farmers implement measures, and they choose pesticides with low environmental impact using the ‘Environmental Yardstick for Pesticides’, and register their pesticide use. The municipalities have reduced their pesticide use to zero on hard surfaces and they aim for zero use in parks, sport pitches and golf areas FAIRWAY project 2019.

The developed of the ‘Environmental Yardstick for Pesticides’ [1] provides an overview of the environmental pressures generated by all crop protection agents permitted on the Dutch market. It enables the user to compare these agents and chooses the least harmful crop protection strategy. The Yardstick is also explained in a short and simple video on how to use and where to find the relevant information [2]. It can be downloaded as an App on smartphones and tablets. In the program, the user can include the specific pesticide resulting in a classification of risk for soil and water (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1 Example of a Yardstick for the use of pesticides in farmlands and municipalities

Note : EIP = Environmental Impact Points. Depends on the toxicity of a pesticide for aquatic organisms, and spray drift to watercourses depending on the application technique. Furthermore, factors like wind speed, wind direction, crop size, distance to the watercourse, temperature and atmospheric humidity play a part in the amount of drift.

Source: https://www.pesticideyardstick.eu/en/bereken-open-teelt.html

[1] Project homepage: https://www.pesticideyardstick.eu/

[2] Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCYYWumSQh4