7 June 2016
Conservative MEP Anthea McIntyre has secured European Parliament approval for a report calling for the greater use of technology in agriculture.
Conservative MEP Anthea McIntyre has secured European Parliament approval for a report calling for the greater use of technology in agriculture.
It calls for sustained investment in research and help to ensure new ideas and techniques are commercialised.
Innovative breeding to develop disease resistant crops and precision farming are among the advances that should be made available to all farmers, whether beef or arable, large or small, conventional or organic.
Miss McIntyre said: “Feeding a growing population while preserving the environment is one of the biggest challenges facing our world. I believe harnessing technology is the only way to square this circle.
“We need to develop technological solutions not only to increase production but to improve the means of distribution and to tackle food waste. We must raise awareness and understanding of new advances among both farmers and the general public.
For example, agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water use but this can be significantly reduced by the use of precision farming techniques.”
The report stresses that EU regulations must not act as a barrier to innovation and urges a partnership between academia, industry, breeders, the agro-chemicals sector, farmers and food manufacturers to ensure European agriculture does not fall behind its international competitors.
Miss McIntyre added: “We must all work together to ensure we have the best research and that we translate research into practice.
“From lab to farm to fork.”