The Palacio de Congresos of Córdoba will host the informal ministerial meeting on agriculture from the 3rd to the 5th of September.
The ministers’ working sessions will focus on the search for innovative solutions using new technologies to make agriculture more sustainable and competitive in the face of climate change and its consequences.
Under the title “New technologies for a more sustainable and resilient agriculture”, the European ministers will work to position the EU at the forefront of agri-food innovation.
The working sessions will discuss how to address the growing global food insecurity caused by climate change, economic crises and conflicts. These challenges seriously jeopardise the reaching the goal of eradicating hunger and malnutrition, comprised in the 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy.
Innovation in plant breeding
One of the legislative proposals the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU promotes concerns plant varieties produced using new genomic techniques (NGT), presented by the European Commission on 5 July.
NGTs, as opposed to genetic modifications, make it possible to develop in a precise manner, plant varieties better adapted to the new conditions derived from climate change, especially those related to drought. The aim is to develop seeds and plants resistant to pests and diseases and use fewer natural resources, less fertiliser and fewer plant protection products. The result: more sustainable and profitable production for farmers.
The new legal framework will allow for this innovation to be used in the process of breeding new, more resilient varieties in a shorter period of time and at lower cost than current methods. It will also help the transition towards a more sustainable, productive and climate change-adapted model, which will also reduce the EU’s dependency on imports in the face of unstable political scenarios.
Sustainable food systems
The fundamental objective of the development and application of innovation and technology is to seek solutions towards a more sustainable agri-food sector, more profitable crops and a guaranteed food supply for the population.
In this sense, the European Union, in line with the action led by the United Nations, is committed to the transformation towards sustainable food systems that guarantee food security. To this end, research and innovation are key, as well as taking advantage of the resources and synergies that digitalisation and the ecological commitment allow.