European farmers must not “miss the train” and get left behind when it comes to new technology tools, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen has said.

Scientific-based evidence is needed to prove the case for tools such as new genomic techniques (NGTs), he told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“[NGTs] is something where we need to work ahead in order to guarantee the fair competition, to give our farmers the same means [as farmers outside Europe],” he said.

“And I think this is something we need to relaunch now in this mandate [his political term], as well as the discussion with the member states.

"Of course, we know that not everybody has the same position, so we need to ensure that the internal market is functioning properly.”

Timeframe

“I think we need, really need now, to be close to that, because this will allow us as well, to have maybe less use of pesticides, to have maybe breeds that are more resistant to water stress, for example,” the commissioner said.

“That is something we really need to work on, to not miss the train of innovation,” he warned.

While pointing out that the timeframe was not in his hands in his agriculture and food brief, Commissioner Hansen said he had already had “a good discussion with the competent commissioner and then we will push this quite quickly”.

The commissioner was in Ireland to address the IFA’s 70th annual general meeting, where he addressed a range of topics including the Mercosur deal, nitrates derogation, farm incomes, succession and more.

He also visited the farm of Seamus and Elaine Byrne in Co Kildare, where he met all three generations living on the 45ha family farm.