Nitrates derogation applications have fallen for a third consecutive year and are now at the lowest number received by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine since 2015, the department has revealed.

Confirming the news to AgriLand, a spokesperson for the department said:

“There are 6,494 applications for Nitrates Derogation 2020 received as of Friday, May 1.

“This is a reduction of 3% on the 2019 number of applications – some 6,684.

“The validation checks for the 2019 nitrates derogation which includes the submission of fertiliser accounts will now commence,” the representative added.

The past three years have seen successive reductions in the number of applications received from a peak in 2017 of 6,995 applications, reducing by 98 submissions in 2018, followed by a drop of 213 last year. This decrease has accelerated further this year, with 266 less applications received.

A key factor in the reductions seen this year is likely to have been the strict new measures, following a review of the derogation’s conditions last year.

The measures came into play on January 1, 2020. The window for applications for this year’s derogation closed on Friday, April 24.