Schwerin (dpa / mv) - According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the recorded erosion events in the state have decreased in the last two years. "It can be clearly seen that on areas at risk of erosion, agricultural and plant cultivation measures are increasingly being used to address the existing risk potential and that attempts are being made to reduce it," the ministry said on Monday - the international World Soil Day - in Schwerin.
According to the data, 17 cases of wind erosion and 7 cases of water erosion were recorded in 2021. In 2022 it was 5 and 13. The decline is continuing - at least in the statistics. According to the state government’s statistical data sheet from July, a total of 33 cases were registered in 2020 and 115 in 2019.
Nevertheless, according to the ministry, erosion can never be completely prevented, and climate change is also increasing the risk of more frequent droughts and heavy rain. "Especially on arable land - and that's around 46 percent of our country - soil cultivation and vegetation-free times create particularly favorable conditions for the occurrence of soil erosion by water and wind," it said. It is therefore important to take precautionary measures that are adapted to the location.
On Saturday, the BUND nature conservation association had already called for an expansion of organic farming to protect the soil in the country. "The increasing industrialization of agriculture is deteriorating the ecological properties and functions of arable land," said BUND agricultural expert Burkhard Roloff. According to the association, 40 percent of the soil in the north-east is at risk or at very high risk from soil compaction, 53 percent from water erosion and 60 percent from wind erosion.
