Innovation for a sustainable agriculture: what's happening in the EU?

Since the discovery of CRISPR, one of the most successful scientific discoveries of our century, the interest around the use of the tool for plant breeding has constantly increased.

While Europe seems to still be reluctant to explore the untapped potential of these new genomic techniques (NGTs), there have been quite a lot of positive developments in a growing number of countries around the world. These countries experience a shift from theory to practice by adopting enabling regulations and guidelines for NGTs into their policy framework. In the last year only, several countries (e.g. India, Philippines, Canada, Kenya and Nigeria,) have adapted their agricultural policies to allow certain gene editing applications to benefit sustainable and climate-smart agriculture.



But which are the benefits of NGTs?
New genomic techniques and innovative breeding methods, including CRISPR, have the potential to improve sustainable food production, while making crops more resistant to climatic stresses, diseases and pests or increasing food quality. With this, the innovation behind can help reducing the environmental footprint of the agriculture sector, which is up to 17% of global C02 emissions . Plant breeding-induced innovations count a lot: on average and across all major arable crops cultivated in the EU, plant breeding already contributes approximately 2/3 to innovation-induced yield growth.

How do they work?
Conventional plant breeding methods, transgenesis or newer plant breeding methods are all essential components of the plant breeders' toolbox. By building on the mechanisms created by nature, the latest innovations in plant breeding methods simply achieve the relevant breeding results in less time and with greater precision.

What about the EU?
In April 2021, the European Commission released a study showing that NGTs have the potential to contribute to a more sustainable food system as part of the objectives of the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy. At the same time, the study found that the current GMO legislation, adopted in 2001, is not fit for purpose for these innovative technologies.

In the meantime, several studies have underlined the potential negative impact that the EU Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies on productivity of the agriculture sector, potentially resulting in major increase of additional land used and deforestation. A substantial change of the EU's regulatory framework is needed to allow for a differentiated and enabling legal approach to products derived from certain innovative plant breeding methods, in line with countries in other parts of the world.

The European seed sector as well as EU farmers have underlined the importance and urgency of this subject for a more sustainable agriculture and food production, especially in support of the ambitious targets set in the EU's Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies.

Which are the next steps?
The European Commission opened a consultation which will be closed end of July 2022. The publication of an impact assessment along with a potential regulatory proposal could be expected in early 2023.

What does Euroseeds stand for?
Euroseeds members are highly interested in using these new breeding tools. Euroseeds calls for an enabling EU policy framework facilitating a competitive, innovative, and diverse European plant breeding sector. The whole food value chain would benefit by applying a science based, proportionate and coherent approach towards the latest breeding methods.
Moreover, Euroseeds stands for a transparent and honest communication around the benefits of new breeding techniques and related technologies. We wish to have plant breeding innovation fully recognized as part of the solution to deliver on the objectives of the EU Green Deal, the EU Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies.

Avenue des Arts 52, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

Erika Maugeri
Manager Communications
erika.maugeri@euroseeds.eu
+32 2 743 28 61

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Euroseeds is the single voice of the EU seed sector. We therefore represent the interests of those active in research, breeding, production and marketing of seeds of agricultural, horticultural and ornamental plant species.
Today, Euroseeds, with more than 36 national member associations from EU Member States and beyond, represents several thousand seed businesses, as well 67 direct company members, including from seed related industries.

This release was published on openPR.