“For many farmers, using a chemical pesticide feels like insurance”
Natuur & Milieu and CLM Onderzoek en Advies joined forces with supermarket chain Lidl to start a special pilot project. Their aim: to drastically reduce the use of chemical pesticides in agriculture, without affecting quality or yield.
Three common crops
The pilot involving three farmers focuses on three common crops in the Netherlands: strawberries, potatoes and apples. Within these ‘model crop cultivations’ various sustainable alternatives were tested. Such as UV light to prevent mildew in strawberries, greener pesticides, mechanical weed control in apple orchards or methods like monitoring pest insects in potatoes.
Reduced environmental impact
The approach differs from the usual method: farmers no longer take preventive action as standard, but only when necessary. Intensive monitoring enables them to take targeted action. The result? A clear reduction in environmental impact as compared to conventional farming in all three crops after just one year.
Trying out new methods
How can the results of this project ultimately be applied in policy? Rutger Westerhof, project manager at Natuur & Milieu: “This kind of cooperation is an opportunity to work with supermarkets and farmers to investigate where opportunities and obstacles lie. Receiving additional external expertise and advice for instance. Or having financial certainty, where the customer takes the financial risk in the event of reduced yield, which increases farmers’ willingness to work more sustainably. We will take the lessons learned in the pilot to The Hague.”
Make the shift feasible
Westerhof advocates government support: “Having the right financial guarantees lowers the barriers to change.” Practical learning process The pilot will continue in 2026 to gain better understanding of what works. “For many farmers, using a chemical pesticide feels like insurance: it provides certainty about the harvest. If you’ve been relying on this for years, you’re not going to change just like that. Every business has its own position on this. We see this as a practical learning process: how do you make this shift feasible?”