Vilnius. The amended requirements for good agricultural condition will make it possible to specify more clearly when protective belts and ditches must be separated and declared, and what activities are possible, the Ministry of Agriculture reports.
This is said to have been done in response to suggestions. The agricultural community has repeatedly missed clarity when declaring protective belts near reclamation ditches and ditches.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, after changing the requirements of GAAB standard 4 “Installation of protection sections along watercourses”, it is expected that it will be clearer which codes to use when declaring, and when it is not necessary to do so.
The Ministry reminds that this year, the requirement to leave at least 3 m of protective strips or trenches from the upper edge of the slope at regulated water bodies or their regulated sections, as well as at drainage ditches, came into force.
These requirements supplement the previously valid standard for the protection of water bodies, that until there is a legalized coastal protection strip for surface water bodies as provided by the Law on Special Land Use Conditions of the Republic of Lithuania, it is necessary to leave at least 5 m coastal protection strips of surface water bodies at unregulated water bodies from water’s edge
The current change in the description should provide more clarity on what activities can be carried out in the abandoned lanes, for example, the lanes near the reclamation ditches can be used for agricultural machinery traffic, grazing, haying in them. There are cases of how to proceed if reclamation ditch repair works are carried out and the grass cover is damaged or filled with soil.
Changes have also appeared in the requirements for the implementation of GAAB standard 9 “Prohibition of changing the purpose of perennial grasses located in Natura 2000 territories, which are identified as environmentally vulnerable perennial grasses, or close to them”. The procedure for restoring damaged or altered meadows has been clarified, the terms of work have been specified, and the codes with which to declare restored meadows.
The amended description of the requirements for the good agricultural and environmental condition of agricultural land, applicable from 2023, can be found in the Legal Acts Registry system.
Source: ŽŪM, manūkis.lt
