Portuguese Minister for Agriculture Jose Manuel Fernandes told the World Seed Congress this week that the EU is planning its biggest research programme budget yet at approximately €170bn for 2028-2034. He said this budget has to provide research for seeds, vaccines, food security and research into pest and disease resistance.

The Minister told the World Seed Congress, held in Lisbon, that Portugal supports the use of new genomic techniques which he said he prefers to call “new genomic improvements”.

He said new plant varieties are essential to tackle the impact of climate change on crop production and to develop varieties which use water and inputs more efficiently. Approximately 4,000 new varieties are introduced across the world every year and about 8.8m tonnes of agricultural seed is produced annually. Hear more from speakers at the World Seed Congress on this week’s Tillage Podcast at ifj.ie/podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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