Environment Bernese waters cleaner thanks to plant protection project

Practical measures can reduce the environmental risks posed by plant protection products in agriculture. This is the finding of the Bern plant protection project. The Canton of Bern and the farmers' association presented the final report on Wednesday.

The project ran for six years and aimed, among other things, to reduce the environmental risks in surface waters without negatively impacting yields. A series of measures were implemented between 2017 and 2022.

More than 3,500 farms were involved in the last year of the project. This corresponds to around 64% of arable, vegetable, fruit and vine farms in the canton of Bern.

The renovation of washing stations proved to be particularly effective, allowing spraying equipment to be filled and washed more safely. This measure reduced the proportion of pesticides in the wastewater treatment plants examined by 65 to 79 percent. Water pollution also decreased significantly.

61 million francs in total costs

Despite a reduction in herbicides and fungicides, agricultural yields were not significantly affected. This can be considered a success, even if the project objectives were not fully achieved, according to the report. The knowledge gained from the project should now help to further reduce the undesirable side effects of substances.

The total costs of the Bern plant protection project amounted to around CHF 61 million. Of this, the federal government covered CHF 49 million. The remaining twelve million francs were borne by the Canton of Bern and the Bernese agricultural sector.