1. Ecological Recycling Agriculture to Reduce Nutrient Pollution to the Baltic Sea
- Author
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Artur Granstedt, Pentti Seuri, Thomas Schneider, and Olof Thomsson
- Subjects
Good Environmental Status ,Ecology ,business.industry ,Stakeholder ,Horticulture ,Nutrient ,Agriculture ,Nutrient pollution ,Environmental science ,Leaching (agriculture) ,Eutrophication ,business ,Agronomy and Crop Science ,Groundwater - Abstract
HELCOM (Helsinki Commission) has adopted a programme with a vision of a healthy Baltic Sea Environment, with diverse biological components functioning in balance, resulting in good environmental status and supporting a wide range of sustainable human economic activities. HELCOM assessments presented in the Stakeholder Conference plan of 2007 clearly show that problems with eutrophication exist in most of the sub-basins of the Baltic and that good environmental status has not been achieved. Agriculture is responsible for a large share of the leaching of nutrients to watercourses, including groundwater lakes and finally the sea. The analysis of data presented in this paper concludes that specialized agriculture with its separation of crop and animal production results in a high load of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Baltic Sea. This agricultural specialization took place throughout the Scandinavian countries after World War II and has resulted in farms with a high density of animals and great surpl... more...
- Published
- 2008
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