Periodic Reporting for period 2 - H3O (Healthy crop, Healthy environment, Healthy finances ... through Optimization)
Période du rapport: 2016-06-01 au 2017-05-31
Cropland covers almost 25% of the EU (4.4 million of Km2) and most of that area is subject to phytosanitary treatment. With the two year H3O project, we bring a completely new generation of plant protection product application devices (sprayers) to market, reducing the amount of product that is released into the environment by 50%. Further, the fine grain adaptation allows to save 38.5% diesel. For a small farmer with 10 hectare of vertical crop this results in product and fuel savings worth 4630 Euros annually. Moreover, the project is meeting key requirements of the EU Directive 2009/128/EC on sustainable use of pesticides and is in line with the food chain industry standard GLOBAL G.A.P.
Moreover, all H3O developments go well in line with the European Union Directive 2009/128/EC “establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides”, as well as Directive 2009/127/EC, “amending Directive 2006/42/EC with regard to machinery for pesticide application”, which requires that “machinery must be designed and constructed to ensure that pesticide is deposited on target areas, to minimize losses to other areas and to prevent drift of pesticide to the environment”.