The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has emphasized this Monday that innovation and the incorporation of new technologies are “decisive” to guarantee “sustainable agricultural and fisheries activity from the economic, environmental and social point of view,” in a scenario marked by climate change and geopolitical instability.
In his address during the “Day of agriculture and food” at the Climate Summit (COP31), which is taking place in Antalya (Turkey), the head of Agriculture has stressed that the primary sector is “key in the fight against climate change and part of the solution,” while also underscoring the importance of having appropriate policies that make it possible to safeguard food security on a global scale.
Planas has highlighted the trajectory of the Spanish agri-food model, which is based on precision agriculture and the implementation of technologies that can also be used by small producers.
As the minister has pointed out, this strategy has made it possible for the sector to reach in 2025 record exports above 78,000 million euros and agricultural income close to 39,800 million euros, with an increase of more than 42% between 2019 and 2025, placing Spain for the third consecutive year at the top of the European Union in this indicator.
New genomic techniques and irrigation modernization
In the different panels devoted to resilience, water resource management and the food chain, Planas has identified new genomic techniques as an “opportunity for the agri-food sector,” since they will make it possible to develop crops that are more resistant to extreme weather events and to optimize the use of limited resources such as water.
Likewise, he has highlighted the irrigation modernization plan that is being carried out in Spain, and which extends to more than 750,000 hectares of national territory in order to respond to the lower availability of water, as well as the Spanish agricultural insurance system, designed to deal with increasingly frequent climate crises after almost five decades of operation.
Throughout the day, the minister is scheduled to hold various high-level meetings at the climate forum with the aim of exchanging strategies aimed at supporting farmers, ranchers and fishermen in the global production of food.