Innovation in agriculture Archives

Carbon farming practices could help Polish farmers cope with permanent drought as they could increase the productivity of their yields, an expert has told EURACTIV Poland.

Spain seeks to maintain carbon in soils destined for agriculture in its strategy against climate change with the support of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, producers demand more funds to compensate for their efforts.

With its low carbon strategy, the French government aims to green agriculture through the development of carbon sequestration in soils. French farmers salute the strategy but call for stronger aids for the transition to be financially sustainable.

While carbon farming is a priority for the German government, farmers say they are not doing enough to support measures financially. Environmentalists add that some of the promoted practices have limited climate value.

British farmers have set an ambitious strategy to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agriculture by 2040. But for all farmers to be able to contribute, the government should step in and provide the necessary means, the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales (NFU) told EURACTIV.

Agriculture stakeholders see a shift towards carbon farming in the European Union positively but emphasise that details over financial incentives for EU farmers must be determined for its proper rollout.

While the French seed industry, the government, and the European Commission agree on the need to develop crop varieties further, NGOs have warned of risks linked with deregulating new genomic techniques.

In this Special Report, EURACTIV takes a closer look at how decisions taken in the EU may spill over into Africa and, more specifically, how this could impact small-scale African farmers.

French President Emmanuel Macron presented a massive investment plan, “France 2030”, on Tuesday (12 October). Backed by €30 billion, the plan will support innovation in flagship projects such as small-scale nuclear reactors and the first low-carbon aircraft.

As the campaign for Germany's 26 September federal elections approaches crunch time, EURACTIV Germany took a look at what the elections could mean for key agricultural policy issues - from scrapping farmers’ direct payments to the use of new genomic techniques.

New genomic techniques (NGTs) have received the backing of the European Commission in a strategy paper, while NGOs promise an intense campaign against them over the coming years.

The UK government has granted permission for a series of field trials of gene edited wheat for the first time in Europe, marking a move away from the EU’s stance on the matter.

German environmental organisations are calling for flood protection measures to be improved and for a change to the way agricultural soils are used weeks after catastrophic flash floods deluged the country and left more than 200 dead across Western Europe. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The EU’s regulatory framework on gene editing is insufficient and risks pushing out research and innovation from the EU, according to a Green MEP, diverging from her party’s strong stance on the matter.

The current EU agri-food model is going through radical change. The need to feed a growing population sustainably and protect biodiversity is putting demands on the industry like never before.

Animal health and welfare are key dimensions of the Farm to Fork strategy (F2F), the European Commission’s pivotal agri-food policy at the heart of the EU Green Deal.

In the next few weeks, EU lawmakers have a chance to show their strong support for nature and sustainable agriculture, argue Sabien Leemans and Jabier Ruiz. But will they?

There is a need to ensure a targeted approach to gene editing because not all genomic techniques confer the sustainability benefits promised in the European Commission's new study, EU lawmakers have warned.

With the Greens increasingly likely to hold sway in the future German government after the 26 September election, EURACTIV took stock of the party’s position on gene-editing, which could prove to be a turning point for Germany's position and the ongoing debate in the EU.

A new study from the European Commission has concluded that the current legal framework governing new genomic techniques (NGTs) is insufficient and indicated that new policy instruments should be considered to reap the benefits of this technology.

A majority of European consumers want to see compulsory labelling on food products containing genetically modified crops, according to a recent Ipsos report, but industry players insist that this is impossible to implement.

Labelling foodstuff as gene-edited products is simply not possible as the genetic improvements brought by the new breeding technologies (NBTs) are not identifiable, according to the Italian MEP Herbert Dorfmann.

The use of gene-editing technologies has come under increasing scrutiny in the EU over the past few years, following the 2018 European Court of Justice ruling that gene-edited organisms should fall, in principle, under the EU's GMO directive. The European Commission …