Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
greenhouse gas emissions. GNM considers nutrients from all sources and these
should balance, but not exceed, the crop requirements. Nutrient sources typically
include mineralisation of soil organic matter, gaseous deposits from the atmosphere,
biological nitrogen fixation, application of organic manures and the application of
manufactured fertilisers. There are many agronomic practices that can influence and
maximise the supply of nutrients and the grower should be aware of these and their
potential to save money and replace the use of inorganic manufactured fertilisers
(DEFRA
2010
).
Pesticides
Pesticides are a potential threat to the environment. However their production and
use are now controlled by legislation and best practice throughout the world that
have the aim of minimising any potential negative effect on the environment or
human health. For instance a pesticide has the potential to cause harm even if it
is kept in an unopened contained locked away in a store. However the risk of the
pesticide causing harm, that is the likelihood is increased considerable if used incor-
rectly. Considerable efforts are taken to ensure that the risk is minimised by both
legislation and codes of practice that growers adopt for the safe use of pesticides.
A component of this is through training of those involved in using pesticides such
as operators, store owners and advisers. The environmental threat from pesticides
can originate from a range of sources and the options for their safe disposal on a
farm are well laid out for the UK in the Pesticide Code of Practice (DEFRA
2006
).
Examples of sources of pesticide contamination include drainage and run-off from
dedicated mixing and loading bays, damaged pesticide containers containing con-
centrate pesticide, dilute pesticide waste, empty waste containers and used Personal
Protective Equipment. Codes of Practice such as that published by DEFRA clearly
lay out good practice that is designed to safeguard the environment.
Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is often presented as horticulture's solution to
the threat of pesticides to the environment. There is no globally accepted legal defi-
nition of IPM in the same way that organic production is defined. Bajwa and Kogan
(
2003
) reported that 67 different definitions of IPM were proposed between 1959
and 2000. Interestingly when a crop is grown under an “organic” label the consumer
is clear of the meaning but if an IPM label were used this would not carry the same
degree of clarity. Poncet et al. (
2012
) discuss fully the dilemma facing the use of
IPM terminology. There has been a paradigm shift in the understanding of IPM
and this might be a probable explanation of why if we look back there are so many
definitions. A recent definition presented encapsulates modern horticulture's under-
standing of what IPM means: