EU: Farmers should play leading role in research and innovation
The Conference, organised by the EU Commission, brought together experts from across the EU to debate the new strategy for research and innovation and to outline key concerns.
Speaking at the event, Copa Vice President Maira Dzelzkaleja said “This strategy comes at the right time as innovative solutions for agriculture sector to adapt and mitigate to climate change are top of the EU agenda. A smarter and sustainable EU agriculture sector for viable and competitive rural areas are key. Research and innovation are crucial tools to achieve this. Innovation contributes to a competitive, efficient EU agriculture sector, helping farmers to cut production costs and produce more with less. And it has to be driven by farmers in order to be able to respond to their needs and they have to be involved in the research processes from an early stage. This is crucial for the future of rural areas. Farmers also generate innovative solutions themselves that often go unnoticed by public. There is a huge amount of hidden knowledge that needs to be revealed and efficiently used and more should be done here.”
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