Farmer perspectives and practices regarding water pollution control programmes in Scotland

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) were introduced in response to the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) which states that all EU countries must reduce the nitrate in drinking water to a maximum of 50 mg/l. Farmers within a designated NVZ must adhere to strict rules over the timing and application of nitro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agricultural water management 2009-12, Vol.96 (12), p.1715-1722
Main Authors: Barnes, A.P., Willock, J., Hall, C., Toma, L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural and forest climatology and meteorology. Irrigation. Drainage
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Biological and medical sciences
Control
European Union
Farmer attitudes
Farming
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General agronomy. Plant production
Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Farmer attitudes Nonpoint source pollution European Union
Nitrates
Nonpoint source pollution
Perception
Slurries
Water management
Water pollution
Water quality
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) were introduced in response to the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) which states that all EU countries must reduce the nitrate in drinking water to a maximum of 50 mg/l. Farmers within a designated NVZ must adhere to strict rules over the timing and application of nitrogen from organic and inorganic sources. In Scotland, four NVZ regions were designated in 2003, covering around 14% of the land area and affecting over 12,000 farmers. This paper outlines the results of a recent study to understand farmer activities in response to and attitudes towards NVZ regulations in Scotland. A telephone survey was administered, obtaining a response of 184 farmers, supplemented by four workshops held in each NVZ region. This explored, both quantitatively and qualitatively, farmer behaviour and attitudes. The bulk of farmers have made little capital investment since the 2003 designation. Few farmers have invested in increased slurry storage facilities, nor begun to transport more slurry off-farm, claiming to have had enough storage capacity before designation to cover the imposed closed period. Farmer attitudes indicate a mostly negative view towards the perceived environmental benefits, water management and compliance. This can be explained by a number of concerns raised by farmers towards the scientific basis for designations. Furthermore, farmers viewed the restrictions placed on farming practices within NVZs as too inflexible. Given the mostly sceptical perceptions demonstrated by the farmers we call for a more integrated approach to water management at the catchment level. There is a role for policy-makers to provide clearer information over the science and purpose of the designations and also to invest in the transfer of technologies, in particular N-use software which is specifically tailored to NVZ regulations. Also, critical to this would be the development of transparent indicators of water quality. This may start to embed nitrogen pollution impacts within the farmer's cultural framework of decision-making.
ISSN:0378-3774
1873-2283
DOI:10.1016/j.agwat.2009.07.002