The Greens in the state parliament are warning of a biodiversity crisis in Saxony's fields. Wolfram Günther, agricultural policy spokesperson for the Green parliamentary group, is therefore calling for biodiversity to be rewarded more. "If rare wild herbs bloom in a field, the money must flow - unbureaucratically, directly and with an impact on income," said the former Minister of Agriculture.
Instead of rewarding ecological results, however, the Ministry of Agriculture is sticking to a prohibitive logic. The government is opposed to more modern funding approaches because it shies away from the monitoring effort.
Farmers are also being denied professional expertise, said Günther, referring to the ministry's response to a question in the state parliament on the protection of wild field herbs. It states that applicants for corresponding funding need "not inconsiderable support" in recognizing the species. In 2024, around 3,300 hectares of arable land from 102 farms were funded for the conservation and development of endangered arable weed flora.