Speaking at the event, Chairwoman of Copas’ Women Committee Willemien Koning-Hoeve said “We received 33 applications for the 2016 edition of the Awards for which the theme is “Women farmers’ as drivers of innovation and green growth in the EU” and five were selected by the Organising Committee. The innovation shown by the participants demonstrates that they are key players in the future of rural society as it is crucial to find new solutions to help solve the problems facing the rural world and to meet ever changing consumer demands. Through these Awards, we show how women contribute to a more dynamic and innovative agriculture sector”.
This year, the winner of the innovation prize is Magaret Farrelly from the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) for her innovative projects vis a vis free-range laying hens. She began in 1987 with 150 free-range laying hens and now has 168, 000 free-range hens on 150 hectares of land, with a turnover of 6.2 million euros. She has developed a company employing 33 people and working with 22 Irish farmers to develop innovative products. For example, O’Eggs are presented in coloured packaging which sets them apart, and 5 cents for each pack of O’Eggs going to a cancer charity. She has also invested in Megga eggs that are naturally enriched with Omega 3, selenium and vitamin E via the hen’s diet. And she has developed a research and development department for innovative products in her company.
The Special Achievement Award meanwhile goes to Italian farmer Lisa Paganelli from Coldiretti this year for her innovative work on her organic family farm. To improve consumer health and reduce the incidence of some diseases like diabetes, she began the Bio Valbidente consortium. This consortium is a sales point for organic farmers using mycorrhiza for symbiotic agricultural production. Mycorrhiza is a fungus that colonises the roots of the cereals, feed crops, trees and vegetables and helps the crops capture more nutrients. This enables to have better nutritional advantages – for instance natural bioto which is a good bacteria known to improve human health. She has also developed products in the meat sector.
The Prizes were delivered by Mihail Dumitru, Deputy Director-General of EU Commissions department for agriculture and Tom Jones, Member of the Economic and Social Committee, who is responsible for drafting an opinion on “Rural Development Programmes – Sticking Plasters or Green Shoots of Recovery?” EU Farm Commissioner Phil Hogan also came to congratulate the winners. The three runners up were Olga Kujani Laszlone Cser from the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture (NAK) for her work on monitoring and forecasting agricultural production, fruit grower Corine Fleuren from the Dutch farm organisation LTO for developing mini apple trees which take up less space and do not exceed 50 cm and Anna Wilen from the Swedish farm organisation LRF for developing gourmet potatoes on a farm and company employing about 50 people.
The Innovation Prize for Women Farmers and Special Achievement Award introduced by the Copa Women’s Committee in 2009 aim to highlight areas where women have shown their expertise in being innovative and underline the activities and benefits that women can bring to agriculture. It also aims to stimulate adoption of further innovative, competitive practices. The prize is awarded on the basis of criteria such as the use of new know-how, new methods or technologies in a given sector. The ceremony comes just before International Rural Women’s Day on October 16 which recognizes the role of rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty .
