Fiber Crop on 80,000 Hectares by Stoppers Solves Nitrogen and CO2 Problem

Van Eijck has developed his plans for solving the problems over the past year with sector initiators. These ideas have been coordinated with involved ministries, NGOs, farmers' organizations, and the business community. The final plan 'The Netherlands from the Nitrogen Lock: Voluntarily from Livestock to Fiber Cultivation' has been sent by the SRCE to caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof, involved ministers, and the agricultural committee of the House of Representatives. The plan is based on a voluntary reduction of the livestock population by 20 percent, which has largely already been initiated through existing buyout schemes Lbv and Lbv-plus. The freed-up land will be used for fiber crops such as flax, hemp, and elephant grass. With 80,000 hectares of perennial fiber crops – about 7 percent of the total agricultural land – the nitrogen and CO2 problems in agriculture are solved, Van Eijck calculates. The SRCE emphasizes that voluntary participation is at the basis of these ...