Essential legal Acts – Dobre Praktyki Rolnicze

Legal regulations on the safety of fertiliser application

The essential rules for the use of fertilisers resulting from valid legal Acts:

It is allowed to use only those fertilisers authorised for sale under the Act on Fertilisers and Fertilising, Regulation No 2003/2003, and natural fertilizers.
The manure dose applied in a year may not exceed 170 kg of nitrogen (N) in its pure component per hectare of farmland.
When establishing the doses of fertilisers, the plants’ nutritional needs and the soil’s nutrient richness shall be considered.
Fertilisers should be applied evenly over the entire field so that fields and crops not designated for this purpose cannot be fertilised.
Natural and organic solid or liquid fertilisers are applied in the period from 1 March to 30 November (with the exception of fertilisers used under covers).
Natural and organic liquid fertilisers are applied using soil applicators, sprinklers, or slurry tankers equipped with splash plates or discharge hoses.
Natural fertilisers shall be covered or mixed with the soil no later than the day following application (except fertilisers applied in forests and grassland).
Natural and organic solid fertilisers may be applied during the growing season (top-dressing) only to grassland and perennial field crops not intended for direct human consumption.
Fertilisers (except for liquid manure) on agricultural land are applied at least 5 m from the edge of lakes and water reservoirs of up to 50 ha; watercourses; ditches (excluding ditches of up to 5 m widths measured at the height of the upper edge of the bank and ditch), canals.
Fertilisers shall be applied on agricultural land at a distance of at least 20 m from the shore of lakes and water reservoirs of 50 ha; protective zones of water intakes and the area of the coastal strip.
Slurry on agricultural land shall be applied at least 10 m from the shore of lakes and water reservoirs of more than 50 ha; watercourses; ditches, excluding ditches up to 5 m wide, and canals.
It is prohibited to apply fertiliser on waterlogged soils covered by snow, frozen to a depth of 30 cm, and during rainfall.
It is prohibited to apply liquid and nitrogen fertilisers to soils without plant cover, located on steep slopes (i.e., slopes greater than 10%, i.e., an increase in the slope of 1m over a length of 10m) and vegetation of plants intended for direct human consumption.
Manure and slurry shall be stored only in sealed containers of a capacity sufficient to keep at least 4 months’ production of this fertiliser, in closed tanks or on impermeable slabs secured in such a way that no leakage occurs into the ground.

Essential legal Acts