Bayer for sustainable agriculture

Warsaw, 1st of October, 2020 – Bayer presents the concept of sustainable agriculture and informs about the first farm in Poland to join the international network of sustainable farms.

– Global challenges, such as a changing climate and a growing population, are bringing new goals for agriculture. We are faced with the need to ensure the right quantity and quality of food for a growing population, while preserving farmland, biodiversity and natural resources such as water and soil. – says Antoine Bernet, Country Division Head Poland, Baltics, Czech Republic, Slovakia at Bayer Crop Science – The answer is sustainable agriculture, understood as activities reducing the impact of agriculture on the environment, while maintaining the profitability of agricultural activity and ensuring social acceptance. At the same time, sustainability is at the heart of Bayer’s strategy.

The Bayer ForwardFarming concept is the answer to the need for a more sustainable future – it is an international platform for promoting sustainable farming practices as well as fostering dialogue and knowledge sharing. As part of this initiative, Bayer has been partnering with 16 farms from 12 countries in Europe, North America and Latin America. Among them, there is a farm from Poland – the first in the region of Central and Eastern Europe.

Bayer ForwardFarming provides a very practical experience of how farmers around the world implement the concept of sustainable agriculture. Farms use the latest technologies and best practices, helping to reduce the impact on the environment, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, supporting the protection of natural resources, and promoting biodiversity.

The farms benefit from the substantive advice of Bayer specialists, and also cooperate with research centers in order to implement sustainable agriculture solutions, including precision agriculture. Each of them remains sovereign over the decisions related to the type of cultivation and the choice of seed producers, varieties, conservation measures, etc. They have a commitment to promoting sustainable agriculture and receiving study visits for educational purposes.

Farms associated in the network are located in the following countries: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Italy, and the USA.

Bayer ForwardFarming in Poland

– The Bayer ForwardFarming project proves – now also in Poland – that agricultural production can be conducted in a way that does not degrade the natural environment, providing high-quality, safe food in a stable way – says Michał Krysiak, PhD, Agriculture Sustainability Manager, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic & Slovakia at Bayer Crop Science – This initiative is also important for farmers as it will show in practice how to maintain profitable production in the face of climate change.

The first farm in Poland in the Bayer ForwardFarming network is located less than 10 km from the geodesic center of Poland – in the village of Kaszewy (Kutno poviat, Łódź voivodeship). Krzysztof Nykiel, together with his son Maciej, runs a 90-hectare farm here. They grow sugar beet, winter wheat and corn on sandy loam soils.

Krzysztof Nykiel, a fifth-generation farmer, shares the belief that sustainable economic development with simultaneous respect for the environment is inextricably linked with modern agriculture.

– What is sustainable agriculture for me, in practice? First of all, taking care of the soil, because everything starts with it. We must take care of the humus content – thinking about the next generations that will produce food – explains Krzysztof Nykiel – We can optimize the use of plant protection products also by using biological products. It pays to take care of beneficial insects, including pollinators. It is worth being open to innovations – also technological ones, and using digital farming tools for precise treatments. The economic factor is very important: sustainable agriculture secures profit, in the long term.

Krzysztof Nykiel’s farm has already implemented a number of sustainable agriculture solutions. These include: special care for the condition of the soil, e.g. increasing the humus content, optimization of plant protection, implementation of decision support tools and digital farming solutions, the use of modern varieties of crops with unique characteristics (such as tolerance to pests or drought), solutions supporting biodiversity (including beneficial insects and wild birds). Further solutions will be introduced in the following years of the project. Many of these elements, such as increasing the humus content of the soil, also help to reduce the climate impact of agriculture.

Michał Krysiak adds: – The Bayer ForwardFarming project is a long-term initiative that presents, through access to a real and developing farm, a number of elements of sustainable agriculture. It is prepared especially for visiting guests: farmers, scientists, consumers, media and other interested parties. As long as the epidemiological situation in Poland does not allow for safe organization of visits, Bayer wants to popularize this project in cooperation with the media and in social media channels. We hope that these activities will be appreciated and will help to increase social awareness of sustainable agriculture – today it is a concept important for 62 percent farmers, and 49 percent inhabitants of Polish cities had contact with it.[1].

Autor:

Bayer Sp. z o.o.

/// Wojciech Krzywicki, Communication Business Partner Crop Science CEE

telefon +48 734 181 884

E-mail: wojciech.krzywicki@bayer.com

[1] Source: opinion poll for Bayer Sp. z o.o.: Kleffmann Group for the program„Grunt to Bezpieczeństwo / Zrównoważenie“ (2017); Kantar for the program „Jest Rolnik, Jest Żywność” – (2019)

Last Updated on December 2, 2020 by Karolina Ampulska