The Voluntary Initiative's Crop Protection Management Plan has been updated by the farming unions who have set their sights on registering 1.5 million hectares in 2007.
The plan, which is a simple annual self-audit, puts the environment at the heart of crop protection and helps farmers identify the potential risks of pesticides to water, insects, plants and animals.
The VI missed its target of covering 1.2 million hectares of farmland under the scheme last year – but 972,000 hectares were still registered despite the RPA mapping fiasco.
NFU head of policy services Andrew Clark said: "With a Crop Protection Management Plan now worth two points per hectare in the Entry Level Scheme, the simplest way for farmers to get these points is to complete the VI CPMP."
A current CPMP is required or recommended by many farm assurance schemes, alternatively an up-to-date LEAF audit can also address this requirement.
The new CPMPs can be downloaded from the Voluntary Initiative web site – www.voluntaryinitiative.org.uk - or obtained from the farming unions and agronomists.
