Agricultural Pollution Control Project: Moldovan Experience with Nutrient Pollution Control in AgroP

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Agricultural Pollution Control Project
Moldovan Experience with Nutrient Pollution
Control in Agro-Processing
Dr. Alexandru Jolondcovschi, APCP Manager

• Regional Conference on Nutrient Pollution Control
  in the Danube and Black Sea Basins
• October 3-6
• Republic of Moldova

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The APCP Moldova effectiveness

• APCP Moldova was
• declared effective on
• March 22, 2004

3
Project Objectives

• The ultimate goal is to reduce the discharge of
  nutrients into the Danube
• River and Black Sea through integrated land and
  water management. The
• project will assist the Government of Moldova to
  
• (i) promote the adoption of mitigating measures
  by farmers and agro-industry for reducing the
  nutrient loads entering the water bodies these
  measures would include better management of
  household and livestock wastes in the villages,
  crop nutrient management, planting of buffer
  strips and conservation tillage, as well as
  dealing with wastewaters from agro-processing
  units
• (ii)strengthen national policy, regulatory
  enforcement and institutional capacity for
  agricultural nutrient pollution control and
  organic farming and
• (iii) promote a broad public awareness campaign
  and replication strategy.

4
Project components

• Promotion of mitigation measures to reduce
  nutrient run-offs into water objectives
• Award GEF mitigation grants to eligible
  applicants from the RISP Special Credit Line
• Manure management
• Promote environment-friendly agricultural
  practices
• Plant forest vegetation
• Restore wetlands
• Monitor water and soil quality.
• 2. Strengthening of national policy and
  regulation capacity in the field
• Identify gaps in the national legislation
  pertaining to agricultural pollution control
• Make comparative analysis between national
  regulations and of EU, especially Nitrates
  Directive
• Draw up a Code of Good Agricultural Practices.
• 3. Public awareness and replication strategy
• Develop a public awareness campaign and training
  for the population and stakeholders from the
  pilot area, who will ensure support for the
  project interventions
• Replicate results at pilot area and country
  level.
• 4. Project administration

5
Project scope

• At the country level, the project will be
  implemented in close association with the Rural
  Investments and Services Project (RISP),
  financed by IDA, which assists Moldova in
  increasing the profit level and improving living
  conditions in rural areas, via promotion of
  entrepreneurship in agro-industrial sector,
  raising of agricultural production, broadening of
  economic activities and trade development. APCP
  will offer grants to agro-industries,
  cooperatives, individual and farmers
  associations to cover incremental costs related
  to mitigation measures for reducing nutrient load
  into water. Awarding will be done based on some
  eligibility criteria established jointly with all
  interested parties. The results of the project,
  especially from the pilot area, will be
  replicated at the country level, through public
  awareness and training campaign.
• In the pilot area, which includes a part of the
  Prut River tributary, an integrated soil and
  water management plan, for reducing and fighting
  nutrient pollution, will be developed. The Plan
  is designed for Lapusna Watershed.

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The APCP/RISP Synergy

• Which RISP projects are eligible for the APCP
• Environment
  Mitigation Grants
• Livestock production Crop production

Agro-industries
Irrigation/irrigation systems
Storage of
fertilizers etc
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The APCP/RISP Synergy
Accomplishments

• 61 RISP borrowers have receive GEF Environment
  Mitigation Grant totaling almost 1,450,000
• - 42 in livestock
• production
• - 6 agro-industries
• - 9 crop production
• - 4 irrigation systems.

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Lapusna Project Pilot Area

• Overview
• 2 counties
• Hîncesti - Leova
• 11 comunas
• 14 737 households
• 43 238 inhabitants
• 46 603 ha total surface
• 33 899 ha total cropland surface

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Manure Management Program

• In winter 2004, in the Negrea comuna, the Manure
  Management System was set up, consisting of one
  communal and 150 household manure storage and
  handling facilities. The manure management
  systems has been equipped with a tractor,
  shredder, vacuum tanker
• and manure spreaders
• amounting to 41,000.
• In 2005 similar manure management
  systems were established in the Carpineni
  and Lapusna comunas.

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The Mayor of Carpineni becomes the owner
of the communal platform

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The Mayor of Lapusna becomes the owner
of the the communal platform
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Manure Management Program

• Stages of construction at communal manure
  platform

Opening of platform

Terracing
Wall reinforcement
Ballast layer
Concrete pumping
Cement coping
Floor reinforcement
Hydro-insulation
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Manure Management System

• Communal platform in use Individual platform in
  use

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Environment- Friendly Agricultural
Practices Program

• In the pilot area, two comunas (villages) were
  selected for testing/monitoring of
  environment-friendly agricultural practices. The
  first comuna, Negrea for testing/demonstration
  and monitoring purposes, and the second, Pascani,
  only for testing/demonstration purpose.
• Today we have in Negrea 5 demonstration fields
  with the following EFAP
• - crop rotation
• - strip cropping
• - grassed waterways
• - buffer strip around vineyards, and
• - catch crops in vineyards
• And 3 demonstration fields in Pascani
• - strip cropping
• - catch crops in vineyards
• - grassed waterways

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Agro-forestry practices

• Twenty four ha of forest belts have been planted
  in Carpineni and 40,000 seedling distributed to
  the farmers to be planted in shelterbelts.

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Water Quality Monitoring Program

• According to the sampling data, water quality of
  the River Lapusna is mainly second class
  (moderately polluted). However, in some sectors
  of the river the quality is as low as 3rd class
  ("polluted") and 4th class ("very polluted").

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Strengthening of national policy and
regulation capacity in the field

• Organic farming
• the Law on Biological Agriculture has been passed
  by the Parliament
• The Department of Agro-chemistry and Ecology
  within the Ministry of Agriculture and Food
  Industry dealing with organic farming issue has
  been established
• Code of Best Agricultural Practices
• A team comprising 5 local and one international
  consultant participated in writing the Code
• The expertise of the main stakeholders-
  Ministries of Ecology and Agriculture and Academy
  of Science- has been sought
• The Draft Code consisting of 20 chapters was sent
  to the World Bank for comments

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Public Awareness and Replication
Strategy Component

• Public Awareness Program at the local level
• day-to-day, individual and joint
• meetings with the target groups
• to promote the idea that clean
• water means health and no one
• but us could protect nature
• Meetings and workshops for the
• local authorities and school children,
• workshops and field visits

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Public Awareness and Replication
Strategy

• Actions at both local and national level
• 8 issues of APCP Supplement
• to the Newspaper Natura
• Promotional materials

- articles and debates in printed press, radio
and TV and the Internet
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Public Awareness and Replication
Strategy

• And of course the expedition along the Lapusnita
  River

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Conclusions and lessons learned

• The interest for the APCP Mitigation Grants is
  very high
• The farmers now are much more aware of
  environment mitigation measures at both pilot
  area and national level
• Some counties require for a similar project to be
  run in their area
• This project should follow up at the national
  level with a larger scope of activity
• It is advisable to conduct public awareness
  actions upfront every investment in the pilot
  area and,
• While designing the actions one should keep in
  mind that every actions is intended

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to protect

• water,
• forest ,
• flora and fauna
• the communities
• we live in
  the EARTH
• and

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Thank you for your attention!GEF/WB
Agricultural Pollution Control Project of
Moldova 9 Cosmonautilor St., Chisinau, MD-2005,
Republic of Moldovatel/fax 22 41 87, 22 15
86e-mail alexjol_at_capmu.md