INTERNATIONAL
CONFEDERATION
OF EUROPEAN
BEET GROWERS
The European Commission is organizing the 2nd edition of the "Farm to Fork conference on 14-15 October 2021, just before the World Food Day 2021. The Farm to Fork conference 2021 will focus on the progress made on the initiatives foreseen in the Farm to Fork strategy's (F2F) action plan, support the EU's efforts to achieve a global transition to sustainable food systems and put emphasis on transition enablers.
The agricultural community in the EU faces several challenges: produce sufficiently for a growing population, produce sustainably to address environmental and climate change issues, ensure competitiveness in a sector that is exposed to international markets and generate a decent income. In this context, the Agriculture & Progress Platform's mission is to provide society and decision-makers with answers and proposals on the needs and challenges of guaranteeing sustainable agricultural production and to highlight the important role of innovation in this context.
On Thursday, the ENVI and AGRI Committees of the European Parliament will vote on their draft report presenting their official reaction to the Farm to Fork strategy. While the first studies on the impact of the strategy launched by the Commission in 2020 show extremely worrisome trends, MEPs are planning to call for several additional objectives and targets for the Commission Strategy that would be simply untenable for the EU farming community.
Following the result of the final trilougue between the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on the CAP reform, CIBE notes that the legislators have considered the sugar sector as a key one in these negotiations. Unfortunatley, this has not led to an adequate and concrete decision to make sugar eligible for public intervention and strengthen the resilience of the sector.
Following the anniversary of the Farm to Fork Strategy on 20th May, today several members of the Agri-Food Chain Roundtable on Plant Protection have released a co-signed open letter about the importance of a holistic assessment before making any decisions about the reduction of pesticide use, including the target of 50% reduction of the use of chemicals as set in the Farm to Fork Strategy.
See how the beet sugar sector is working hard to develop sustainable alternatives to respond to the ban of some key plant protection products.
Such alternatives will most likely have to consist of a combination of techniques and approaches. To develop and successfully implement these will require time, several years and considerable financial investment.
EU Farm to Fork & EU Biodiversity Strategies