Action Plan for the Nitrate Vulnerable Pandivere and Andavere–Põltsamaa Area for 2016-2020

The Action Plan for the Nitrate Vulnerable Pandivere and Andavere–Põltsamaa Area for 2016-2020 is a national sectoral action plan of Estonia. It provides for objectives of the action plan for limiting the environmental load: limit the environmental load in places with a more substantial load in order to mitigate its impact on the bodies of surface and groundwater with bad status; continuously update the information needed for planning and implementing water protection measures; reduce the share of agricultural production which does not correspond to the environmental requirements; update the legal framework and promote cooperation with the parties, including in the field of specifying the requirements for the calculation of applied fertilisers; raise the awareness of agricultural producers, agricultural advisers and officials, as well as explain the possibilities for the implementation of water protection measures to the producers at their location, taking into consideration the natural conditions of the production site; and ensure healthy drinking water for households located in the zones of agricultural production. In order to achieve the objective of the action plan, the following measures shall be implemented: ensuring healthy drinking water in low-density areas; implementation of environmentally friendly technologies in agriculture (including the implementation of the measures of the Estonian Rural Development Plan 2014–2020); organisation of impact studies and monitoring of agricultural production. The task is to observe and acknowledge the natural background load agricultural trends of nitrogen and phosphorus load. More specific studies shall be carried out on the catchments of these bodies of water where the load of nutrients is also the reason for the poor or bad status of the body of surface water. For the targeted fertilisation of crops, a guide and a calculator shall be developed for the preparation of nitrogen balances at the level of the field and the company. Keeping in mind the future, a possibility for a common electronic farm record or the development of a database for the use of fertilisers has been considered at different levels. The example has been set by other countries, e.g., Denmark, where it gives an accurate overview of the use of fertilisers in agricultural production and based on that, an overview of the load to the environment. The said data is also a good tool to the person engaged in agriculture in particular, allowing the optimal use of fertilisers and keeping the production costs under control; development of a legal framework and cooperation for the achievement of the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone protection objectives. The current key issue is the limitation of the nitrogen and phosphorus losses by setting restrictions to the time and conditions of fertilisation at the end of the vegetation period; information and ensuring expertise; and improving supervision and the competence of the compliance authority officers.