This paper traces the history of the so-called ‘nitrate problem' in Britain and Europe. It pays particular attention to the aftermath of the Second World War and to the contribution to the problem of politicians and economists as well as farmers. Europe was in such a poor state after the war that famine was recorded there in 1947. Food supply and the needs of farmers were still near the top of the agenda when the six founder members of the European Community signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957. This treaty committed the members to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), one of the key features of which was ‘intervention buying', under which agricultural produce was bought up whenever there was a glut and prices fell. This stabilized farm incomes and prices to consumers, but led to the production of more food than was needed and greater use of nitrogen fertilizer. How this translated into greater nitrate losses from soil is discussed. The activities of one particular politician, Adolf Hitler, led to the ploughing-up of appreciable areas of old permanent pasture in the UK. The nitrate released became the ‘nitrate time bomb' that stirred much of the initial concern about nitrate. Hindsight suggests that the CAP and intervention buying should have been reviewed in about 1980 when nitrate concentrations in natural waters began to cause concern, but the response of the European Commission was to legislate. The resulting 50 mg l-1 limit on nitrate was arguably the root of the nitrate problem. The limit was initially imposed on health grounds, now shown to be without foundation, and the main concerns about nitrate in water involve estuarine and coastal systems.

299 words. (Text alone 279 words.)