Hybrid Event: The nutrients beneath our feet – How to make every nutrient count for healthy soils?

Wednesday 1^st March 2023, 14:15 – 15:30 CET

European Parliament, Brussels, Room ASP 5F385 / online

Hybrid event hosted by MEP Franc Bogovič

EVENT REGISTRATION:

• Registration for physical participation is now closed.

• If you would like to join the event online, please fill in the Online Attendance Registration Form.

Crop nutrition is at the very beginning of the food chain. It plays an important role in relation to the food security, agricultural land use efficiency and circularity of our food system, as well as plant, soil and human health. Some of the nutrients are supplied naturally by the air, water, and soil. Fertilizers and manures are used to supplement these natural supplies for optimum crop growth. However, if weather conditions are not considered when crop nutrients are applied, if the nutrient content of manure is not well known by the farmers or if nutrients are applied when crops don’t need them, fertilization may lead to excess nutrients that can be released to the wider environment with negative impacts. In the same time, when nutrients and other components that contribute to the vitality and fertility of soils are taken away and not replaced, the soils get depleted. That’s why upscaling best nutrient management practices at farm level is of crucial importance.

It is clear that the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy, announced in 2020, has put the European Union as a front-runner in the transformation of the global food system by setting several aspirational goals – including the one on reducing nutrient losses. As follow-up actions on how to deliver on different Farm to Fork objectives are ongoing and with the European Commission working on an EU’s Integrated Nutrient Management Action Plan and a proposal for the Soil Health Law, this event would like to facilitate a discussion on the topic and share of best practices. 

Therefore, the event will focus on the following questions:

• What is currently being done by different stakeholders across the EU in order to reduce nutrient losses and what are the results achieved?
• Which nutrient management practices should be integral part of sustainable soil management?
• What is the potential of farmers’ advisory services to achieve results on the ground?
• Can nutrient recycling be upscaled, and how?
• How innovation and technology can contribute to the reduction of nutrient losses?
• What are the needs of farmers to further optimize the use of nutrients for healthy soils?
• What are the expectations from the upcoming Integrated Nutrient Management Action Plan and Soil Health Law?

Final Agenda:

14:15 – 14:20:             Welcome remarks by MEP Franc Bogovič

14:20 – 14:55:             Panel discussion with the participation of:

• Célia Nyssens-James, Senior Policy Officer for Agriculture and Food Systems, EEB
• Jessica Fitch, Manager, Secretariat of the European Consortium of the Organic-Based Fertilizers Industry (ECOFI)
• Tiffanie Stephani, Vice President for European Government Relations and External Communications, Yara
• Anne-Catherine Dalcq, Vice President, European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA)
• Emma Hjelm, Project Manager, Greppa Näringen

14:55 – 15:00:                       Reaction by Kirstine Bille (DK, Greens), Coordinator for the NAT Commission, Committee of the Regions (CoR)

15:00 – 15:10:                       Reaction by Gaëlle Marion, Head of B2 Unit on ‘Environmental Sustainability’, DG AGRI, European Commission

15:10 – 15:25:                        Q&A session with the audience

15:25 – 15:30:             Closing remarks by MEP Franc Bogovič