Twenty years of farming methods believed to be environmentally friendly have actually led to a decrease in wildlife and plant diversity, a study conducted in the Netherlands found. 

The findings suggest that the health and diversity of wild plants and animals are not improved if farmers wait to mow fields and use less fertilizer than conventional farming. 

"Why bother?" said author David Kleijn of Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands. "It's much more wise to find out why these schemes are less effective before we spend more money on them." 

Kleijn's findings were reported in this week's issue of the journal Nature. 

So far, the European Union has spent $1.5 billion a year since 1992 on this type of farming. The Dutch system began in 1981. 

The farmers practiced what is known as agri-environment farming. It is the same as conventional farming, except farmers are paid to use less chemicals and to wait until June or July to cut their fields so that birds have more time to nest and hatch their chicks. 

It is different from organic farming, which does not use chemicals at all and is much more highly structured, involving stringent rules requiring such things as the planting of trees and shrubs. 

The Dutch study evaluated plants, birds, hover flies and bees in 78 pairs of fields. In each pair, one field was farmed conventionally, and the other was farmed according to agri-environment principles. 

The environmental farming produced decreases in some types of birds. However, hover flies and bees showed slight increases. 

Kleijn said he suspects the decreased use of fertilizer limited the abundance of worms in the soil needed for some birds. 

He said his study is meeting resistance from some farmers who are being paid to follow such practices and from nature conservation groups that simply do not believe the findings. 

Organic farming may be a better alternative, said John Reganold, a professor of soil science at Washington State University. He said studies have proved that removing all chemicals is helpful in enhancing diversity. 

"It's harder to do. It's much more information-intensive. You have to be thinking months and months ahead," he said, "but once farmers get the hang of it, they love it." 

Reganold also noted that the Dutch researchers looked only at plants and wildlife. They did not look at the effects on soil or the overall environment. 

Source : Environmental News Network October 17, 2001