Under the Green Deal, the share of organic land in agriculture is to reach 25 percent by 2030; currently it is only 8.5 percent. Ferdinand Beran, a pioneer in international crop protection, would be pleased. He initiated the German Plant Protection Act, co-founded the European Plant Protection Organization, created the internationally renowned Austrian Working Group for Plant Protection and headed the Federal Institute for Plant Protection.
Among his numerous awards are the Grand Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria, the Grand Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Otto Appel Memorial Medal, and the Silver Medal of the City of Paris. Ferdinand Beran, who studied technical chemistry at the Vienna University of Technology, published 23 books, numerous brochures and 119 scientific papers. In 380 popular scientific writings he dealt with the application of chemical plant protection agents.