The Government wants ban on cultivation of marshes
The Ministry of Agriculture will ban cultivation of marshes. The Farmers’ Association reacts strongly to the proposal.
The Ministry has sent out a consultation proposal prohibiting cultivation of marshes. If this proposal is adopted, it will change cultivation regulations. The proposal opens yet for exceptions where cultivation may be allowed in special cases, according to the newspaper Nationen.
The research center NIBIO has examined the bill together with the ministry. According to the United Nations Climate Panel, the cultivation of marshland will annually lead to CO2 and nitrous gas emissions of 3.5 ton of CO2 equivalents per hectare.
– To prohibit cultivation is simply a cheap way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says NIBIO researcher Arne Grønlund.
Larger agricultural area
Deputy leader in the Farmers’ Association, Bjørn Gimming, reacts strongly to the proposal and refers to the farming white paper that shows that Norwegian food production not only have to increase to meet population growth, but also to increase self-sufficiency.
He argues that we must have a larger agricultural area to achieve this, and that marshland many places in the country is the most important area reserve we have for cultivating land.
The deputy leader points out that food production can not happen without greenhouse gas emissions.
– We will definitely give a new consultation response, because this is an important issue for us, he says.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
