the united kingdom s demonstration test catchments dtc project is a new initiative of the department of environment food and rural affairs defra to provide a research platform from which a number of integrated ways of managing agricultural diffuse source pollution at the river catchment level can be developed france also has launched a major research initiative by the ministries of agriculture and environment conducted through the institut national de la recherche agronomique inra to support the national ecophyto plan that plans to achieve a reduction in pesticide use by nearly threequarters of the uk land surface is in agricultural production and the influence of farming on water and the ecosystems it supports is significant table