240 News & Press Releases found
European Commission, Environment DG News
-
Sustainable phosphorus use — evaluating past patterns to inform future management
Recycling waste from farming and mining could help improve the sustainable use of phosphorus, a recent study suggests. The study traced the stocks and flows of phosphorus over a 50 year period to reveal changing patterns of global phosphorus use. ...
-
Fertiliser tax of €0.05–0.27 per kilogram calculated for France as incentive to limit its use
Farmers seeking to make the most of high crop prices may increase the area of land farmed with a valuable crop and also apply more fertiliser. These two changes can have negative environmental effects, such as water pollution caused by nitrogen ...
-
Intensive grassland farming could have deep effects: sequestering significantly less soil carbon
Huge amounts of soil carbon have been discovered up to 1 metre below grassland in a recent UK study. Yet most carbon inventories do not assess soil deeper than 30 cm. Furthermore, this research suggests that intensive management of grassland, ...
-
Expansion of greenhouse horticulture in Spain seen to compromise conservation and the revitalisation of rural areas
Land-use changes in the arid south-eastern Iberian Peninsula impact on the supply of various ecosystem services that support human well-being. Research into perceptions of the rapid expansion of greenhouse horticulture and the abandonment of rural ...
-
Management of rice paddy fields affects greenhouse gas emissions
How rice paddy fields are managed significantly influences the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs), a recent study concludes. Permanently flooded soils release more methane than soils that are flooded and then dried between production periods, for ...
-
German soil monitoring programme could assess impacts of GM crops
Effective regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) calls for monitoring of the potential environmental risks. This study explored whether the German permanent soil monitoring programme could be a useful tool for this purpose. The ...
-
Herbicide reduction can preserve crop yields as well as biodiversity benefits of weeds
Pesticide-sparing approaches to farming do not have to compromise on crop yields, new research suggests. A study that explored the impact of reduced herbicide use across a variety of different farming contexts found that herbicideefficient systems ...
-
From the ground up: local knowledge informing agri-environmental policy
Agricultural land use presents a number of environmental challenges, which the European Commission is committed to addressing through a range of agri-environmental policies. A new study points to the importance of aligning agri-environmental ...
-
Ozone pollution reduces tomato fruit yield and viability
Ozone harms pollen viability of tomatoes, leading to reduced fruit weight, size and quality, a recent study has revealed. The researchers suggest the effect of ozone on pollen could be a useful way to rapidly test for pollution-induced stress on ...
-
Insect-eating bats save global maize farmers €0.91 billion a year from crop damage
Insect-eating bats are estimated to be worth US$ 1 billion (€0.91 billion) a year to maize farmers around the world, a new study has revealed. Not only do bats reduce crop damage by eating adult corn earworm crop pests, they also suppress ...
-
Orchard management practices may lead to changes in diversity of spiders
Different management practices using pesticides affect the diversity, number and ecological traits of ground spiders in apple orchards, a new study finds. Because spiders are viewed as good indicators of the quality of an entire ecosystem, the ...
-
Land users are positive about long-term benefits of sustainable practices
The costs and benefits of sustainable land management have been collated in a new review. Data from a global archive was analysed for the costs of sustainable practices and technologies and for land users` perceptions of cost–benefit ratios. ...
-
Straw covering on soil can increase crop yields and improve the efficiency of water use
Straw from previous harvests can be used to help increase crop yields and improve the efficiency of water use in arid regions, finds a new study from China. By testing different techniques to improve water efficiency, the researchers found that the ...
-
No-tillage management of olive groves can improve soil structure while maintaining yield
Non-conservative tillage techniques, such as milling and harrowing, are the most common way to manage soil in Mediterranean olive orchards. A new study confirms the value of alternative methods based on the use of spontaneous cover crops which can ...
-
Rejuvenating arid badlands: from barren slopes to living forest in 80 years
A reforestation project has revitalised its surroundings just 80 years after its inception. In the late 1920s, the Saldaña badlands in northern Spain were a barren region, with a thin layer of intensely weathered soil, and only 5% vegetation ...
-
Integrating animal and crop production can reduce nutrient leaching from agricultural fields
Nutrient leaching, the movement of plant nutrients from soil to water, can have negative effects on aquatic ecosystems due to eutrophication, which reduces the oxygen available in water, causing species and habitat loss. Ecological Recycling ...
-
Artificial wetlands on farmland help to prevent soil loss and recapture agricultural by-products
Small field wetlands are a simple and effective way to reduce soil erosion and nutrient pollution, recent research suggests. The authors adapted Norwegian designs for the UK environment and created a series of small rectangular lakes on the edges of ...
-
Flood risk from modern agricultural practices can be mitigated with interventions
In the face of substantial evidence that modern land use management practices have increased runoff at the local scale, a new study reveals changes in local land use management practices can reduce the risk of local flooding. However, there is ...
-
Pesticides may harm wild bees but natural areas can mitigate effects
The use of pesticides in orchards may be threatening populations of wild bees, which are important pollinators that increase crop productivity, a new study concludes. However, the damage was mitigated in areas where the orchards were surrounded by ...
-
Techniques to reduce spray drift pollution from vineyards
Several mitigation techniques can greatly reduce spray drift pollution from pesticide spraying in agricultural systems, shows a new study. Researchers tested the effectiveness of several strategies; results ranged from a 38% reduction in spray drift ...