FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The agrochemical industry is calling for more government demand for the restructuring of German agriculture. The transformation to sustainability will only succeed if politicians demand innovations such as "green" ammonia, digitalization and precision agriculture more consistently, the German Agricultural Industry Association (IVA) announced Wednesday. "Rigid specifications and blanket bans on use, as currently dominating the discussion on the EU Pesticide Reduction Regulation, will not automatically contribute to the sustainability goals of biodiversity or climate protection, but as a consequence will lower agricultural yields."

Digitalization offers opportunities, said IVA President Michael Wagner in Frankfurt. Almost a quarter of the crop protection products applied could theoretically already be saved without sacrificing yields if all farmers worked with state-of-the-art technologies and applications. "However, this requires not only assistance with investment in new machinery, but also efforts in training and advisory services. This is where the state is called upon," Wagner said. The European crop protection industry will do its part, he added.

Farmers have long been criticized by environmentalists, who see the use of crop protection products as a major reason for the decline in biodiversity. The agrochemical industry, on the other hand, points to the needs of the world's growing population.

Marco Fleischmann, Chairman of IVA's Plant Nutrition Division, stressed that climate-neutral, "green" fertilizer production in Europe is feasible. But this would require reliable competitive conditions and plenty of climate-friendly energy, especially enough green hydrogen.

Last year's energy crisis had made fertilizer much more expensive, the association said. Since energy accounts for up to 90 percent of production costs, almost two-thirds of domestic ammonia production had come to a standstill at times. In turn, imports grew, including from Russia. Now prices are falling significantly, Fleischmann said. He expects a pent-up demand for fertilizers./als/DP/jha