OECD conference: sustainable farming, food quality and safety and land use planning

Tisková zpráva Press Release Communiqué de presse

Prague, 9 April 2009
 

OECD conference: sustainable farming, food quality and safety and land use planning

On 6 - 8 April Prague hosted experts from the OECD Member States at a conference dedicated to “Challenges for Agriculture”.

The experts discussed the most recent results of scientific research in areas, such as the protection of natural resources, particularly land and water; sustainable farming for food production and environment protection, competition in the fields of food and fuel production, food safety and rules in the area of molecular genetics. This prestigious international event was opened by Deputy Minister of Agriculture responsible for the Environment, Research and Education Jirí Urban.
 
The overarching topic of the conference was the issue of sustainable farming and its content and forms in different types of soil under various climatic, economic and social conditions. “Assignments of research projects should reflect current challenges and priorities of European agricultural policy, which include sustainable farming, climate change and food quality and safety. One of the possible ways of responding flexibly to such issues can be via technological platforms which bring together research institutions, farmers and representatives of public administration”, remarked Jirí Urban at the opening of the conference.
 
The price for rapid development of agricultural production in the past decades is a negative impact on the environment. Declining biodiversity poses a global problem that affects particularly areas in the temperate zone. Limited biodiversity is related not only to changes of the ecosystem in the given locality but also has a significant impact on distant ecosystems. A possible solution could be the so-called land sharing, under which intensive farming is undertaken on a part of the soil and another part is reserved for maintaining biodiversity or organic farming, which takes into consideration as much as possible the utilisation of natural processes and emphasises the importance of maintenance and support of the self-regulatory features of the agricultural system, while minimising inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, and respecting the ban on growth regulators and hormones. Agricultural research should thus aim to find new impulses for the creation of such a productive farming that would, at the same time, preserve the biodiversity of the ecosystem. Agriculture based on detailed knowledge of the ecosystem in the given locality and adjusted to local conditions may solve the current issues of agricultural policy, which include declining biodiversity and changes of climate. 
 
Taking into account the growth of population, food consumption is estimated to increase by 50 % worldwide by 2030 as against the current situation. Since the land area that can be used for agriculture has already been almost exhausted, an increase in the demand for food must be satisfied by higher agricultural productivity, especially by increasing yields of arable crops. This is where agricultural research can bring a significant contribution.

The conference agenda further included the issue of molecular genetics and genetically modified organisms. Genetic modification involves changing the genome while clones are copies of the organism. According to the conference participants, both procedures have a vast potential, for instance in terms of developing resistance to certain diseases, such as BSE, and increasing the quality of products obtained from genetically modified animals. Moreover, they are of great importance in the conservation of endangered animal species (Animal Genetic Resources – FAO). In the Czech Republic, cloning of farm animals is not in practical use, but research in this area has attained world level. Among the principal achievements of Czech scientists is the production of the first interspecies clones in the world, explaining the role of the nucleolus in cloning and the development of methods of genetic material conservation. 
 
With current plant protection methods, the losses in plant yields caused by diseases and pests are estimated at 25% - 40%. Without this protection, the losses could be as high as 80%. Here, genetically modified organisms can be very useful because they reduce the use of synthetic pesticides. A new EU directive on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is being prepared and is expected to come into force as from 2014.
 
Finally, the 21st Century Green Revolution and Millennium Villages programmes were presented at the conference. These programmes, which aim to increase agricultural productivity in developing countries, highlighted the need for mineral fertilisers, subsidies to purchase these fertilisers, and loans that could be provided by developed countries. The Millennium Villages programme further covers drinking water resources, school programmes, and support for small enterprises, micro-banks and credits. Helping African countries in this way is much more efficient than just providing short-term food aid.
 

Tereza Dvorácková
Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Agriculture