Plataforma de conocimientos sobre agricultura familiar

The policy context: innovation & rural development policy

The importance of innovation in agriculture and rural development has been recognised by the European Union over successive reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), but there is widespread agreement that agricultural knowledge and innovation systems need to be   reinvigorated. The innovation priority in rural development programmes (RDPs) for 2014-2020 will be to ensure that ground-breaking new ideas do not go unnoticed and that knowledge-exchange is a used as a tool in overcoming emerging challenges.

When addressing innovation, the diversity of rural areas must be taken into account. Local characteristics, the categories of potential beneficiaries and the range of actors involved will all influence cross-cutting objectives such as innovation, environmental protection, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Agriculture in Europe is also facing challenging times. Farmers must somehow achieve the dual objectives of producing high quality food (i.e. ensuring food security and environmental sustainability) and in ever greater quantities. This would be hard enough in a world with predictable growing seasons, but climate change is interfering with natural seasonal cycles, resulting in ever greater uncertainty and complexity. The challenge ahead is starkly illustrated by the expectation that to feed the world, 60% more food will be needed by 2050. Fundamental resources such as water, soil and phosphorus are under pressure or have been degraded, meaning that the productivity increases of the past are unlikely to be repeated, even though most (85%) of the increased food demand up to 2050 will have to be met by improved crop yields, rather than through the conversion of more land to agricultural use.

Title of publication: EU Rural Review
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Intervalo de páginas: 3-6
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Año: 2013
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Cobertura geográfica: Unión Europea
Tipo: Artículo de revista
Idioma utilizado para los contenidos: English
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