ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale) and the University of Rome Tor Vergata carried out a study about the impact of organic and conventional hazelnut crops on ecosystems. (1)
The research was conducted in the province of Viterbo, during the two-year periods 2015-2016 and 2018-2019. In order to verify, under the mandate of the Ministry of Environment, status of implementation and effectiveness of the measures established in the NAP(National Action Plan on Pesticides). (2) And it is useful to show, in general terms, the environmental value of choosing organic in our spending.
Comparing habitats
The researchers identified and formed six pairs of hazelnut groves-organic vs. conventional hazelnut groves-according to homogeneous criteria. Environmental matrix, habitat for wildlife and flora species, soil characteristics, anthropogenic outbuildings, proximity to protected areas.
Indeed, measuring and comparing the overall health status of crops postulates an integrated analysis of biodiversity. Therefore, one must consider not only the hazel plant itself-whether from organic or conventional cultivation-but the entire habitat, composed of all the environmental, physical and chemical, biological factors that interact with it.
Inorganic substances in soils
Chemical analyses conducted on the soil samples for inorganic substances (calcium, magnesium, potassium, carbon and total nitrogen) showed acceptable results overall.
Copper and sulfur-used to control pests and weeds and also allowed in organic farming, within the limit of 6 kg/ha-were found in higher concentrations in conventional fields, in one case above the legal threshold. (3)
Zero pesticides in organic hazelnut crops, toxicity in 1 in 6 of conventional ones
Zero pesticides, among 19 researched, in organic hazelnut crops. In conventional crops, however, fungicides abound. Tebuconazole, boscalid and penconazole, but also dimethomorph, an anti-peronospera fungicide not even stated in the field notebooks. This phenomenon is worth drawing attention to the online smuggling of pesticides, which is still in vogue and unpunished.
Toxicity was found at a high degree in 4.5 percent, at ‘mild’ levels in 10.1 percent of assays performed on conventional crops (on sorghum, watercress, mustard, earthworms, water flea, green microalgae, and bacterial), in 2015-2016). In contrast, all assays from organic hazelnut cultivars were negative in toxicity tests.
Pedofauna and soil in crisis due to pesticides
The pedofauna (microarthropods) is a fundamental community for life on earth. Hundreds of thousands of almost invisible detritus trophic chain animals chop, shred and mix and digest soil organic matter. Thus contributing to its fertilization, contamination buffering and water cleaning. The pedofauna includes faunal species so sensitive to soil quality and changes that they are less vagile, crippled by the stress caused by agrotoxics.
Specimen counts-performed in spring, summer (pre- and post-treatment) and at the end of the cultural cycle-revealed an abysmal gap between organic and conventional hazelnut fields. 4000 to 10, the average number of critters found in each sample (10 cm3) taken in organic and conventional soils, respectively, in all three sampling seasons.
Fauna in crisis from agrotoxics
Wildlife is in turn in crisis because of agrotoxics. The study involved a range of faunal biondicators. In addition to soil insects (pedofauna), reptiles and the bats (bats). Monitoring of their behaviors and movements has shown a net loss in biodiversity in fields subjected to agrochemical treatments. This compares with far greater richness in organic fields, measured in numbers of individuals and species(Margalef’s index).
Reptiles are an important bioindicator because they are very sensitive to pollutants (which they have little ability to eliminate from their bodies). And again, the results on conventional hazelnut fields are alarming. The number of specimens in hazelnut groves with agrotoxics, compared with organic, is drastically reduced (36 vs 187 in 2018, 52 vs 182 in 2019). With the total disappearance of one of the three investigated species(lacerta bilineanta) from non-bio fields.
Field lizard
A specific in-depth study concerned the ecotoxicological effects of pesticide use on the field lizard(podarcis siculus). (4). Tests were performed on brain and liver tissue, but also by noninvasive methods (blood and caudal tissue sampling, egg analysis, measurement of young lizards).
The cocktail effect of pesticides was revealed in oxidative stress and DNA damage, with genotoxicity confirmed by research on eggs (significantly lower in mass and volume, in animals examined in conventional crops) and juveniles, which were less healthy than peers in organic fields.
Bees, butterflies and moths
Pollinating insects (bees, bumblebees) and epidopterans (butterflies and moths) are sensitive bioindicators of micro-habitat quality in terms of biodiversity and contamination levels. In both categories of insects, the differences-in terms of abundance, number of species, and diversity indices-are statistically significant, with threefold and fourfold values in organic compared to conventional. 472 to 148 lepidopteran specimens in organic soils, 841 to 178 bees and bumblebees (2018-2019 analysis).
Bats
The use of bat calls and feeding buzz allowed researchers to monitor bat movements as well. Bats are widely used as indicators of ecological quality because they can respond quickly to habitat changes due to their mobility.
Conventional agriculture, in addition to progressively reducing the availability of prey (insects), induces the disappearance of bats due to bioaccumulation of pesticides. There were 508 responses to feeding buzzes in organic hazelnut fields in 2018-19, more than twice as many as in conventional hazelnut fields (251).
Intensive hazelnut groves, disaster announced
Intensive monocultures of hazelnuts solicited by the Corporation more or less homegrown (in the case of Ferrero with holding company, headquarters and family residences in Old World tax havens, Luxembourg and Monaco) – as has already been reported – poison the soil, drinking water reservoirs and air with deadly mix Of agrotoxics.
Chemical weeding kills life essential to soil fertility and permeability, promoting soil erosion during rainfall (with transport of chemical residues to other soils and waterways) and drought with the arrival of high temperatures. The planting of hazelnut groves outside of naturally vocated territories then requires the use of artificial irrigation systems that divert large amounts of water resources.
Organic, the only sustainable agriculture
The biological system promotes preventive and treatment actions that respect and benefit ecosystems. Biological tools to prevent insect infestation include the use of natural predators such as the samurai wasp or bats, both of which are greedy for Asian bugs.
The expenditure of irrigation water is drastically reduced through natural agricultural practices such as mulching, which allows the soil to be protected from the sun’s rays and thus keep it moist. The nutrient enrichment offered by the algae (composed of 19% potassium and 20% carbon) then allows for a 2\3 reduction in the water resources required at the fruit enlargement stage.
Impact of consumption choices on ecosystems in Italy
Italy is the world’s second largest producer of hazelnuts, after Turkey. The UAA (Utilized Agricultural Area) dedicated to this crop is booming, with a 12 percent increase between 2012 and 2017. The Viterbo area, in turn, is an area traditionally devoted to hazelnuts, which has experienced a dramatic expansion of coriliculture in the past decade. In fact, Lazio and Piedmont are the top producing regions in Italy.
Choosing organic rather than conventional products inevitably involves a higher outlay. It is, however, an investment in the ecosystems in Italy, which in this way we decide to safeguard rather than condemn to devastation. And to recognize the true value of food, with a fair price for businesses and workers committed to the territories to protect the health of natural habitats. So too is our health, and the health of generations to come. We consume less, waste less, live better.
Dario Dongo and Giulia Orsi
Cover image from Lucciano Farm, an organic enterprise in Civita Castellana (VT) https://www.fattorialucciano.com/it/fattoria/noccioleto/
Notes
(1) The study, soon to be published, was previewed by ISPRA in a special webinar on 17.12.20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU7v_QGwQiE
(2) The NAP should promote the ‘sustainable’ use of agrotoxics–through appropriate targets, measures, and indicators–in order to reduce their risks and impacts on human health and the ecosystem
(3) The copper and sulfur threshold is defined as 100 mg/kg for agricultural soils intended for the use of sewage sludge (Legislative Decree 99/92) and 120 mg/kg for agricultural soils intended for public and residential green spaces (Legislative Decree 152/2006)
(4) Amphibians and reptiles were introduced into theEnvironment Risk Assessment (ERA) through EU Regulations 283, 284/2013. Where the need for further investigation of the toxicological effects of pesticides on reptiles and amphibians as well as mammals insects and fish was highlighted
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in Law at the University of Bologna, now enrolled in the master of law of agri-food markets at the University of Turin. She is a practicing lawyer.
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