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

The findings suggest that the health [replace with] and diversity of wild plants and animals are not improved if farmers [replace with] wait to mow fields and use less fertilizer than conventional farming. 
[replace with]
[replace with] "Why bother?" said author David Kleijn of Wageningen [replace with] Agricultural University in the Netherlands. "It's much more wise [replace with] to find out why these schemes are less effective before we spend more [replace with] money on them." 
[replace with]
[replace with] Kleijn's findings were reported in this week's issue of the journal [replace with] Nature. 
[replace with]
[replace with] So far, the European Union has spent $1.5 billion a year since 1992 on [replace with] this type of farming. The Dutch system began in 1981. 
[replace with]
[replace with] The farmers practiced what is known as agri-environment farming. It is [replace with] the same as conventional farming, except farmers are paid to use less [replace with] chemicals and to wait until June or July to cut their fields so that [replace with] birds have more time to nest and hatch their chicks.  [replace with]

It is different from organic farming, [replace with] which does not use chemicals at all and is much more highly [replace with] structured, involving stringent rules requiring such things as the [replace with] planting of trees and shrubs. 
[replace with]
[replace with] The Dutch study evaluated plants, birds, hover flies and bees in 78 [replace with] pairs of fields. In each pair, one field was farmed conventionally, [replace with] and the other was farmed according to agri-environment principles. 
[replace with]
[replace with] The environmental farming produced decreases in some types of birds. [replace with] However, hover flies and bees showed slight increases. 
[replace with] [replace with]

Kleijn said he suspects the decreased [replace with] use of fertilizer limited the abundance of worms in the soil needed [replace with] for some birds. 
[replace with]
[replace with] He said his study is meeting resistance from some farmers who are [replace with] being paid to follow such practices and from nature conservation [replace with] groups that simply do not believe the findings. 
[replace with]
[replace with] Organic farming may be a better alternative, said John Reganold, a [replace with] professor of soil science at Washington State University. He said [replace with] studies have proved that removing all chemicals is helpful in [replace with] enhancing diversity. 
[replace with]
[replace with] "It's harder to do. It's much more information-intensive. You [replace with] have to be thinking months and months ahead," he said, "but [replace with] once farmers get the hang of it, they love it." 
[replace with]
[replace with] [replace with]

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

Source : Environmental [replace with] News Network October 17, 2001