EU food authority: Estonian food among the cleanest worldwide

TALLINN – According to the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce, Estonian food stands out globally because it is among the cleanest in the world, as revealed by  monitoring results from the European Food Safety Authority.

Besides, judging by various indicators of environmental pressure and biodiversity, the Estonian farm sector is one of the most environmentally friendly such sectors in the European Union, spokespeople for the Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce said in a press release on Friday.

The amount of active ingredients used by farmers is about 95 percent lower than in the 1950s.

Farmers are keen to use as few plant protection agents as possible because all such items are a cost to them, so all field work is always justified and well thought out. That is why integrated plant protection is used, which means focusing first and foremost on the best technologies, the most suitable varieties, and crop rotation that reduces the spread of plant diseases, the chamber said.

Protecting plants is an important part of agriculture to ensure that there is enough high-quality and safe food available to the population. Plant protection is a set of different measures, products and practices by which farmers protect their cultivated plants from weeds, diseases and harmful insects.