Brussels, 07/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - Research and innovation will help shape the agriculture of tomorrow, so that it is able to produce more, in a better way and in respect of the environment and natural resources. This statement was made by participants at a major conference on Wednesday 7 March in Brussels on the subject of research in farming.
The European commissioner for agriculture, Dacian Ciolos, explained that with the proposals for reforming the common agricultural policy (CAP), “we are now getting ready for the farming industry of tomorrow, a sector which, in the 21st century, will have to be sustainable and innovative in order to be competitive and integrated into society”. He issued a “general call for action” on the question of agricultural research and innovation - a subject which has “for too long been left to the relative obscurity of scientific laboratories and academic publications”. He provided a very clear message as to his “determination to support research, innovation and knowledge sharing in the farming sector”.
The European Commission has put some very ambitious proposals on the table in this domain. It is proposing to double available funding at European level in this area and to provide and put in place a complete toolbox capable of amplifying the efforts put into agronomic research and innovation. In the 1960s and '70s, there were big challenges, but they were simpler than they are today: production is now the name of the game. Nowadays the challenges are complex ones, all research avenues need to explored in order to fulfil our political objectives: food security; the management of natural resources; and also aspects related to the agricultural economy as such, including, for example, the issue of adding value within the food chain, the organisation of specific sectors and the balanced development of rural areas.
Ciolos says that our working methods need to be changed. Genuine concertation along the entire agronomic knowledge chain, extending into the farms themselves, will make it possible to work more effectively on two counts: (1) releasing the wealth of knowledge available and making it accessible. Present-day communication tools make information available at an astounding rate. Why not develop agronomic “wikis”, easily accessed on each farm holding, along the lines of Wikipedia? (2) Developing the knowledge which will shape the farming industry of tomorrow.
To accomplish these two objectives, Ciolos explained that it was crucial that they overcame the divide between the scientific world and putting things into practice. He also said that with the Horizon 2020 Programme, the expanded Farm Advisory Service (FAS), the rural development programmes offering enhanced cooperation and innovation measures, and the new European Innovation Partnership, “we are in a position to address four priority areas”: - improving the identification of problem issues to be researched, specifying needs more precisely and expanding the field of 'sponsors' of research to include farmers;
- promoting research in all areas and for all agricultural structures, without having just a single model in mind (making subjects as disparate as ecology, genetics, soil science and molecular biology work hand in hand); - supporting not only pure research but also applied research and innovation; - ensuring that good ideas do not remain confined to scholarly publications but are, instead, made available to farm holdings, including small farms.
Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European commissioner for research, stated in a video message that using research and innovative solutions is a key point for developing the farming and agri-food industry. She said the European Innovation Partnership for agriculture, decided on 29 February, had enormous potential. The commissioner concluded that they were very ambitious in this field.
Protecting the environment and adapting to climate change. Mette Gjerskov, the Danish minister for agriculture and acting president of the Agriculture Council, said that the importance of innovation in agriculture is “crucial”. She also said that agriculture could help them meet the challenges of climate change, food safety, employment and international competition. She asserted that the agricultural sector needed assistance from science (new knowledge and new technologies) “to produce more from less, whilst reducing its environmental footprint”. The Danish Presidency defends the idea of a greener Europe and considers it necessary to “create growth without increasing the use of natural and energy resources”. Gjerskov said that research could help create new sources of revenue and maintain an active exports market. She believes that the CAP can make a positive contribution to the promotion of new production methods based on knowledge, which will help protect the environment, fight against climate change and adapt to it. The CAP must be a driving force for innovation and it is necessary to ensure an appropriate framework that enables the agri-foods sector to invest in new technologies and develop new products, explained the Danish minister. She highlighted the importance of producing biogas and pointed out that the Commission had proposed the allocation of €4.5 billion to agricultural research for the 2014-2020 period. She said that this amount of money was significant, “double what is currently spent in the 2007-2013 period”. She remarked that the market and therefore citizens were essential to the question of innovation and that the latter expected the challenges confronting our society to be met.
Increased production needed. Paolo de Castro, the chair of the committee on agriculture and rural development of the European Parliament, pointed out that the demand for food continues to grow, although production capacity raises a number of concerns in the medium and long term. He underlined the necessity of increasing production in order to meet the problems of food safety. He explained that shortages were currently being experienced although previously they had had surpluses. He said that “a high level of agricultural and agri-food production needs to be maintained, whilst limiting the use of water, energy and chemical fertilisers”. De Castro said that it was necessary to create a process of innovation that helped them break with the old mechanisms and the role of the EP was decisive in this process. He asserted: “We need a new green revolution and innovation must create new organisational processes, so that the supply chain is more transparent, more balanced and more sustainable. Waste from agricultural products should also be avoided.”
Genetic innovation, increased yields. Marion Guillou, the president of INRA (a French institute), said that the EIP proposed is very coherent. She also explained that the US Academy of Science estimated that 90% of chemicals in 2090 would be produced from renewable biomass derivatives (agricultural biomass or that coming from micro-algae). In Europe, it is therefore necessary to think of different agricultural functions by producing more, through different branches, and producing better with regard to the use of natural resources: (1) food requirements (demand) from the earth will depend on two phenomena, namely, the diets of the population and cutting down on losses and wastage (currently, wastage accounts for a third of agricultural production in the world). This requires research (preventing losses due to parasites in the fields, improving modes of storage, working on the presentation of products, better understanding of food practices); (2) the use of carbon fuels (mitigating climate change) must also be reduced and biomass could possibly be a solution, on condition that it ensures that biomass production modes have an overall positive outcome; (3) in the area of major grain production (wheat, rice), yields will reach a plateau and will no longer be able to increase. Climate factors have become a factor that impacts on increased yields. Guillou pointed out that “further innovation is required in the genetics field, in order to increase yield, which also means reducing the production times of new varieties (a 15 year period is required from the moment we decide to target such and such a priority to the updating of a new variety and making it available on the market)”. She also said that they need to ensure that effective management of natural resources is respected: soil (which is becoming a rare resource), water, biodiversity and climate. This will require much innovation, landscape modification (hedges that pump nitrates, grass strips on river banks etc). The president of the INRA also referred to the subject of pathogen resistance (bigger parasites). (LC/transl.fl)