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Schwerin (dpa / mv) - In the dispute over the Federal Government's insect protection package, Agriculture and Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) criticized the state farmers' association.
On Wednesday he spoke of a "constant lament".
The association had reacted with disappointment to the package passed in Berlin on Wednesday, which includes a ban on the use of glyphosate from January 1, 2024 and measures against the decline in insects in Germany.
"The farmers' association points out that almost every second hectare in the country is already being cultivated in accordance with the specifications of greening or an agri-environmental program," explained Backhaus.
But this also means that no measures are taken on the other half of the area that serve the climate or environmental protection.
"We are talking about more than 600,000 hectares", the minister made clear.
The farmers' association also sweeps under the carpet that the agri-environmental and climate protection measures are paid for.
"In the past year alone, the state paid 70 million euros to the participating farmers for eleven programs."
For the years 2014 to 2020, 380 million euros were available.
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On Tuesday around 200 farmers demonstrated against the new requirements in Stralsund.
"With the current plans, farmers are being punished for having tended species-rich grassland and valuable orchards over decades," said the President of the MV Farmers' Association, Detlef Kurreck.
The state farmers' association was one of the organizers of the protest.
Agriculture needs good transition conditions, it said.
Insect protection is also important to farmers.
Backhaus emphasized that he knew that agriculture was currently facing huge challenges.
Any additional requirement hurts.
“But we as a society as a whole are faced with the challenge of doing more for climate protection, more for biodiversity and more for clean water.
Nobody can take it for granted. "
He expects concrete solutions from the farmers' association "instead of constant lamentation".
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210210-99-386941 / 2
Reaction farmers' association MV