The European governments have to decide whether science or politics are applied when it comes to issues such as new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs), EU's Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan said.
The global food system needs urgent reform, less meat consumption and more legumes, as three billion people worldwide are malnourished and food production is exceeding planetary boundaries, scientists have warned in a new report.
French authorities on Tuesday (15 January) banned the sale of a form of controversial weed-killer Roundup following a court ruling that regulators failed to take safety concerns into account when clearing the widely used herbicide.
Czech farmers have to invest more in processing agricultural products if they want to improve their position in an increasingly competitive environment, EU Commissioner Phil Hogan said in an interview with Aktuálně.cz.
EU politicians should show trust in the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and put their personal opinions on food safety assessments on hold, centre-right MEP Peter Jahr told EURACTIV Germany in an interview.
New methods of genetic engineering promise precise interventions, without side effects. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) wants tight regulation. The judgement is being fiercely debated. EURACTIV Germany reports.
The digitisation of Europe’s agricultural sector will play a crucial role in optimising the use of fertilisers in order to help feed a rising population and simultaneously to decrease their negative environmental footprint.
The EU fertilisers industry published its 2030 vision on Wednesday (21 November), stressing the need to optimise fertiliser use across Europe and improve production in order to adjust to the principles of the circular economy and feed a growing world population.
The European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) issued a statement on Tuesday (13 November) saying the directive on genetically modified organisms should be revised in order to adjust to the current knowledge, especially when it comes to gene editing.
It is the duty of scientists to point out what could be accomplished by using new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs), according to European Commission official Barend Verachtert, who praised the virtue of new technologies in agriculture at an event organised by EURACTIV on 5 November.
The digitisation of the agricultural sector will be at the heart of Greece’s growth following the exit from austerity-driven bailouts, Greek minister Nikos Pappas told EURACTIV.com in a recent interview.
Most farmers sell their products to large food companies and therefore lose large proportions of their income to long supply chains. But individual farmers manage to sell directly to customers. Is this a viable model? EURACTIV Germany reports.
An interpretation of a recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on gene editing is confusing EU member states, while the scientific community are warning policymakers about the implications on the future of EU farming.
Discrimination against women in the farming sector is still widespread, though less than a decade ago, according to a global study carried out by Corteva AgriscienceTM which concluded that empowering women could help revive rural areas and meet the rising food demand.
Policy makers, industry and civil society are trying to find a way to reconcile scientific evidence with public opinion’s beliefs when it comes to food safety. However, this has proved time and again to be a difficult challenge.
Changing farming practices is always risky and if we want EU farmers to enter the digital era, we need to support them financially for a certain transition period, as has been the case with switching to organic farming, agriculture expert Luc Vernet told EURACTIV.
The much-awaited digitisation of the EU farming sector has taken centre stage in the last few years. But its ultimate application in the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is still unclear.
The connection between digital farming and sustainable production is not yet clear in the minds of many policymakers, Bayer’s Bruno Tremblay told EURACTIV.com in an interview, adding that some farmers look at this kind of innovation as a way to control them.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released fresh data, which re-confirm the toxicity of copper compounds, pesticides that are used in organic farming.
Member states and not the European Commission will direct the precise support and funding for innovation and digitisation of farming in the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan told EURACTIV Romania in an interview.
An extensive regulatory process on gene editing adds more bureaucracy, increasing costs and slowing down innovation, Liam Condon, President of Bayer’s crop science division told EURACTIV.com.
Spirulina, an ancient algae with many nutritional qualities is still not widely grown in Europe, which is, however, a major consumer of this “super food”. In the Nantes region, a market gardening group has ventured into greenhouse farming with the support of European funds. EURACTIV France reports.
The selective approach of some campaign groups regarding the credibility of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) results in a “general erosion of trust” in the bodies designed to protect public health, EFSA director Bernhard Url told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
