Genetic crop improvements in EU agriculture can provide huge environmental benefits at the same time as protecting crops against pests and disease and delivering substantial benefits to the economy. This is vital to combat hunger and malnutrition when world food demand is set to rise by 60% by 2050, Copa and Cogeca Seed Working Party ChairmanThor Gunnar Kofoed insisted.
The EU also has the largest number of plant breeders in the world which have delivered great conventional progress in yield growth and quality improvement in the past 50 years, Thor Gunnar Kofoed stressed.
“But plant breeders in the EU face a challenging policy and regulatory framework. They need to be encouraged to invest in new breeding technologies instead of being held back. If we don’t act now, we will put ourselves in the hands of a few multinational American companies. EU farmers and their cooperatives will not accept it”, Thor Gunnar Kofoed concluded.
Click here for details of the USA statement https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2018/03/28/secretary-perdue-issues-usda-statement-plant-breeding-innovation
