OVERSEER Nutrient Budgets

      Category:  Environmental Outreach & Education; Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation
      Policy Type:  Technical Assistance; Evaluation
      Sector:  Agriculture
      Region:  Oceania
      Country:  New Zealand
      Description: OVERSEER Nutrient Budget tool in New Zealand is an agricultural management tool which assists farmers and their advisers to examine nutrient use and movements within a farm to optimize production and environmental outcomes. The computer model calculates and estimates the nutrient flows in a productive farming system and identifies risk for environmental impacts through nutrient loss, including run off and leaching, and greenhouse gas emissions.
      Outcome:  The OVERSEER Nutrient Budget tool contributes to estimating nutrient budgets, pathways and transfers within the farm system and predicting changes to nutrients loads based on implementation of different management practices.

      Reference:  OVERSEER Nutrient Budgets

      Ontario Nutrient Management Act 2002

      Category:  Regulatory Approaches;
      Policy Type:  Environmental Standards; Regulatory Framework
      Sector:  Agriculture
      Region:  North America
      Country:  Canada
      Description: Ontario Nutrient Management Act came into force in 2002. Under this Act, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations establishing standards respecting the management of materials containing nutrients used by and on agricultural operations or used for other uses; specifying standards for the size, capacity and location of buildings or structures that are used to store materials containing nutrients or to house farm animals; requiring farmers and other persons to meet prescribed qualifications and to pass prescribed examinations in relation to the application of materials containing nutrients to lands, etc.
      Outcome:  Ontario Nutrient Management Act aims to provide for the management of materials containing nutrients in ways that will enhance protection of the natural environment and provide a sustainable future for agricultural operations and rural development.

      Reference:  Ontario Nutrient Management Act 2002

      Organic Agriculture Act of 2010

      Category:  Price-Based Instruments
      Policy Type:  Subsidies, Grants & Incentive Payments; Tax Credits & Rebates
      Sector:  Agriculture
      Region:  Asia
      Country:  Philippines
      Description: The Philippine Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 states the national policy on the promotion, development and implementation of organic agriculture. Under section 24, the law states that incentives are provided to organic input producers and organic farmers, including cash reward, subsidies, and income tax exemption. Those incentives are available only to micro, small, and medium enterprises. The National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP) has been established, which is directed by National Organic Agricultural Board (NOAB) and serves as the guide for the implementation of organic agriculture activities.
      Outcome:  Organic agritulture encourages the use of organic fertilizer, which could enhance soil structure and nutrient retentive abilities, and greatly reduces the risk of groundwater pollution.

      Reference:  Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 (Philippines)

      Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS)

      Category:  Price-Based Instruments
      Policy Type:  Subsidies, Grants & Incentive Payments
      Sector:  Agriculture
      Region:  Europe
      Country:  United Kingdom
      Description: The UK's Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS) is one of the four elements of the Environmental Stewardship Program. It is open to all farmers who manage all or part of their land organically. OELS pays participating farmers £60 per ha, per year. In return, farmers must make a 5-year commitment to carry out certain environmental management options which they choose from a wide-ranging menu. Aid for converting conventionally farmed improved land and established top-fruit orchards to organic farming is also available through OELS at rates of £175 per hectare per year for the first two years of the OELS agreement on improved land. Specifically, the organic management option requires participating farmers to stop using synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and limit applications of animal manure nitrogen to an average of 170 kg/ha per year even outside Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, thus reducing the potential for nitrate leaching or the run off of nutrients or pathogenic organisms to watercourses.
      Outcome:  The UK's Organic Entry Level Stewardship program awards payments to farmers who manage all or part of their land organically. The farmers will be paid for a flat rate payment of £60 per ha, per year for all of the OELS eligible land.

      Reference:  NE351:Organic Entry Level Stewardship: Environmental Stewardship Handbook, January 2013 (UK)

      Payment For Conserving Farmland And Water

      Category:  Price-Based Instruments; Institutions & Capacity
      Policy Type:  Subsidies, Grants & Incentive Payments; Partnerships
      Sector:  Agriculture
      Region:  Asia
      Country:  Japan
      Description: The Payment For Conserving Farmland And Water was implemented in FY2007. It supports collaborative activities that contribute to the preservation and qualitative agricultural improvement of local resources, including agricultural land, rivers, irrigation channels, and farm drainage. It requires an agreement among rural community residents.
      Outcome:  The policy encourages rural communities to implement repair and renewal operations and lengthen the service lives of terminal irrigation canals and farm roads. Under the basic payments, paddy and upland fields receive 4,400 and 2,800 Japanese yen per 10 a., respectively.

      Reference:  Payment For Conserving Farmland And Water