Luis Planas: "Countries have an obligation to provide a common response to a shared challenge such as climate change"

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, attends the High-Level Conference on agricultural research

Planas added that Southern Europe and North Africa are suffering the same problems as a result of climate change, especially drought, and that "we have before us not only the need, but an opportunity to tackle this problem through closer cooperation".

Luis Planas took part in the High-Level Conference on research in agriculture, held as part of the International Agricultural Show in Morocco (SIAM), where he acknowledged the efforts of companies and research centres to incorporate new technologies into the food chain as a whole.

In his speech, the minister called for progress towards more sustainable and integrated food systems from primary production to the end consumer that consider the profitability of farms, "because without profitability there is no sustainability". Planas said that research, development and innovation (R&D&I) are key drivers to speed up the transition to these more sustainable systems.

The minister stressed that the level of investment in research and development in Spain has grown for the eighth consecutive year. Specifically, the Spanish agri-food sector invests around €909 million a year in R&D, adding the contributions of the primary sector, industry, public administration and universities, with an increase of 8.5% compared to 2021. The Government of Spain wants to set a path of stable and growing public funding for R&D&I, with the aim of reaching 1.25% of Gross Domestic Product by 2030.

Research and food security

Planas insisted on the role of research and innovation in tackling the future challenges facing the agricultural sector, including climate change, which threatens the food security of the population.

To tackle this phenomenon, the minister pointed to the need to reduce the impact of agriculture and livestock farming on the climate via more sustainable agri-food systems. He also stressed the importance of promoting research to make these systems more resilient to climate change. For the minister, research and innovation are agriculture's great allies.

In this regard, he stated that the new genome editing techniques are a key tool for tackling the effects of climate change and for gaining competitiveness since they enable us to obtain plants with a greater capacity to adapt to adverse climatic phenomena, they are more resistant to pests and diseases, and they extend the useful life of foodstuffs.

He also indicated that innovation makes it possible to introduce plant improvements in certain species, such as tolerance to water stress and variations in the time of flowering, facilitating adaptation to environmental challenges.

Another determining factor for the future of agriculture is linked to research into water efficiency through the use of non-conventional water, the digitalisation of irrigation systems, increased energy efficiency and precision agriculture. Spain has an ambitious irrigation modernisation plan until 2027 with a public-private investment of more than €2.4 billion.

The minister added that in addition to increasing the capacity to adapt agricultural production to climate change, it is necessary to act to mitigate its effects, in particular by reducing emissions from all sources and adopting practices that increase carbon sequestration in soils. In Spain, a 10.6% reduction of national ammonia emissions has been achieved, thanks to the ECOGAN computer system for the transfer of information, together with the improvement of agricultural practices.

He also pointed out that research and climate change are present in many of the public policies and investments made by the Government of Spain.

Non official translation