Locals have the right to know which and how many pesticides are being used on farm land near them, Dutch judges have ruled in two separate court cases.

Growers are bound by law to keep a register of what they spray but until now this information was not available to third parties, including the people living in neighbouring areas.

Transparency about spraying practices is needed to find out where some of the pesticides found in homes and gardens are from and what crop they are used for, said campaign group Meten=Weten, which brought one of the cases.

The court said its rulings, which have not yet been published, that the agriculture ministry should allow access because it will “improve the efficacy of controls and monitoring”. The traceability of the pesticides is one way of ensuring human and animal health and that of the environment, the court said.

One of the main sources of damage to health from pesticides is lily cultivation. In July last year, a court ruled in favour of 35 Limburg locals to continue to ban lily cultivation just tens of metres from a residential area in the village of Sevenum.

That court ruled then that the high use of pesticides in lily cultivation could pose serious risks, particularly to vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly. The ban will remain in place until the end of 2028.