Luis Planas affirms that “we have to improve the response” to the drought

2023-09-05 14:08:31

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain, Luis Planas, stated this Tuesday in Córdoba that “we have to improve the response” to the drought. “There is no magic wand, but we do have instruments to respond to it,” he added. A few moments before the start of the EU agriculture ministers meeting at the Palacio de Congresos, to questions from journalists, he indicated that “when we talk about climate change and how we respond, we are talking, among other things, about drought”.

The minister pointed out that the lack of water will be one of the issues to be discussed at this meeting and recalled that “we are in one of the areas at greatest risk from the point of view of climate change. The ministers are appreciating it these days and we are going to discuss it now, we have to improve the answer”.

The informal meeting of ministers has the participation of the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Janusz Wojciechowski, and is celebrated with the title “New technologies for a more sustainable and resilient agriculture”. Specifically, attendees will debate on this last day about the use of new genomic editing techniques in the production of plant varieties, in order to achieve plants that, for example, are more resistant to water deficit and high temperatures.

When asked if he was concerned about the position of some ministers such as the German, who did not attend the meeting (the director general for European Affairs, Swantje Nilsson, is coming from this country), Luis Planas commented that “from the first contacts we have had on the subject, I would say that there is an open and constructive attitude by practically all the member states. there are concernswe have to ask ourselves what they are and try to respond to them”.

Planas recalled that on July 5 the Commission made a proposal for a regulation on the use of new gene editing techniques (the objective is to simplify their use). In this line, he has stated that the will “is that it be done in an absolutely transparent way, with guarantees, so that this vegetable production of seeds and plants benefits food production.” The minister has alluded to the challenge of producing “food in sufficient quantity, preserving the environment and the possibilities of future production”.

The first political conclusions

“My ambition is to draw some first political conclusions during this semester. We will probably not be able to delve into the approval of the regulation as such, but we will move forward so that future presidencies can conclude the legislative work”, Luis Planas has detailed in reference to the work of Spain in the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

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As to whether the new legislation on genomic techniques is related to the legislation on the pesticide reductionthe Spanish Minister of Agriculture has stated that “everything and nothing is linked. We have to combine the necessary balance between managing to produce more food and, at the same time, doing so while preserving the environment”, he insisted.

Regarding the opportunity that this meeting provides to discuss the use of new technologies in the primary sector as a tool for adaptation to climate change, Luis Planas also explained that “we have had partial discussions, but today we have the opportunity” to discuss it with EU ministers and representatives. “The question I ask the ministers in this meeting is which techniques to combat climate change, in food production, are understood to be more effective and preferences, therefore, must be supported by the EU and all the ministers”.