EU: COPA-COGECA calls for research reinforcement

Copa-Cogeca gave yesterday, in Brussels, an important workshop about research and innovation, calling up for a reinforcement in research. "Effectively, with the rise in demand for food, decrease in resources and weather changes, it's crucial to support agriculture's productivity, to keep on improving resource efficiency", said the secretary-general of Copa-Cogeca, Pekka Pesonen.

In the same speech, Pesonen declared: "EU farmers have a key role as suppliers of food products and, more and more, as suppliers of resources for energy and industrial ends. But farmers can only keep that main role, on which society has expectations, if agriculture keeps being an innovative sector.

The rise in productivity that we observed in the European Union is reducing with time, specially in the herb cultivation sector, in which the increase of productivity is, presently, less than 1% per year. This is due in part to the reductions in research grants in the EU. So, I consider it to be of fundamental importance to consolidate the agricultural research and translate that research into new agricultural technologies".

The workshop "Research and innovation to boost a sustainable, productive and competitive agricultural sector in Europe", counted on a lot of assistance and number of speakers, representing not only EU institutions, but also several operators within the food chain. It was a key moment that coincided with the publication of several legislative proposals that will, for sure, have repercussions in the EU's agricultural sector.

Copa-Cogeca considers that the report Horizon 2020, the future legislation about research, the report on bio-economy and the new elements contained in the Commission proposals about the future of CAP, are steps in the right direction.

In particular, Copa-Cogeca welcomes favourably the proposal destined to reinforce innovation, formation and consultancy within CAP. It also considers the creation of European cooperatives for innovation to be a positive step with the end of bringing a more wide angle for research, innovation and consultancy services. It's important to follow a positive angle between Horizon 2020 (a new fund for research in the EU) that will finance research and the European Fund for Rural Development, that should be centered in the assurance of transmitting the "right way" for research into the agricultural exploitations.

The challenge is to support innovation and to search for practical solutions for farmers to get the benefits to the environment and a bigger efficiency, so EU can count of a profitable and competitive agricultural sector.

Source: Copa-Cogeca