Wageningen, The Netherlands
March 10, 2009
Source:
Wageningen University and Research
Centre
What effects are the negotiations on the deregulation of world
trade having on European farmers, farm income, the landscape and
European consumers? What influence is the European Nitrates
Directive having on the environment, land erosion or incomes in
the agricultural sector? These questions can be answered in the
future by the comprehensive and high quality computer model that
30 universities and research institutes from 13 countries have
developed on behalf of the European Commission. The goal of this
instrument is to contribute to improved European agricultural
and environmental policy and to more sustainable development of
the EU.
This comprehensive model stores enormous amounts of information
from databases and can calculate various scenarios. It is the
result of intensive collaboration during the past four years
between 30 knowledge institutes from 13 countries, under the
leadership of Wageningen University, Netherlands. In addition,
the intended users and stakeholders have been continuously
involved with its development.
The European Commission wanted a model for reviewing future
policy in the areas of agriculture, environment and rural
development, a model which provided a good integral assessment
of economic, social and environmental factors. The model must
not only be able to determine the effects of policy, but also to
calculate the alternatives. The model development cost more than
€15.5 million and was financed primarily by the EC. Besides
several research institutes from Wageningen University and
Research Centre, many universities and research institutes from
other European member states were involved. The consortium also
included institutes from outside the EU – from Switzerland,
Norway, the USA and Mali.
The model, known as
SEAMLESS (System for Environmental and Agricultural Modelling;
Linking European Science and Society), has been presented at
a conference held in Egmond aan Zee from 10 to 12 March. The
participants at the presentation included Minister Verburg of
the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.
SEAMLESS is one of the larger European research and development
programmes.
Far-reaching changes
In the near future, far-reaching developments will take place in
European agriculture as well as in the environment and the
countryside. Rationalisation and modernisation are continuing.
The competition from outside Europe is increasing. Moreover, the
consumer is becoming increasingly demanding, and is requiring
more from agriculture than food production alone. In order to
lead the developments in the desired direction, more stringent
requirements are being placed on policy, especially with respect
to sustainability. This holds true not only for policy of the EU
itself, but also for the policy of the governments of the Member
States and the lower tiers of government. This means that policy
must be better supported, more transparent and more trustworthy.
And it must be become much more oriented to sustainability.
The SEAMLESS model can be used by policy makers and interest
groups alike to determine the strengths and weaknesses of new
policy before it is implemented, to test innovations for
sustainability and to formulate alternative scenarios and model
them.
Usable at various levels
The SEAMLESS model is based on a very extensive database. Much
of the data originates from actual farming operations, including
not only economic aspects such as turnover, income and farm
size, but also environmental information such as the amounts of
fertilisers or pesticides used. Moreover, the database includes
political-administrative, economic and other social data, along
with landscape characteristics or information about the
environment or climate. A unique aspect of this model is that
all this information, which is continuously supplemented, can be
linked in various ways and used via innovative software in
calculation and prediction models. Calculations and predictions
can take place at a wide range of scales and levels, ranging
from the individual farm, to the region, to the pan-European
scale.
The so-called Open Source approach was specifically chosen for
SEAMLESS so that the model can be continuously adapted and
improved by the various institutes involved. In this way, the
model can be further developed and refined for years to come.
Wageningen UR and its partners have taken an important step by
contributing to improved policy preparation of the European
Commission and individual Member States for the years to come at
the interface of agriculture and environment. |
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