First virtual Roundtable Forum on Sustainable Plant Production

Rome, 13 June 2023 – The FAO Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP) organized the first FAO global roundtable forum on sustainable plant production online, as follow-up activity of the successful organization of Global Conference on Sustainable Plant Production (GPC) in November 2022. . The forum was opened by QU Dongyu, FAO Director General. The high-level segment was facilitated Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General, and the Stakeholder session was chaired by Fenton Beed, NSP Senior Agricultural Officer.  Over 60 participants attended the forum, representing technical experts, the private sector, academia, farmer and civil society organizations. The main objective of the forum was to discuss the concrete actions to be taken globally based on the 20 recommendations agreed at the GPC.

In his opening remarks, QU Dongyu highlighted the four important priorities discussed at the conference: placing farmers at the centre of production; adopting integrated approaches with diversified cropping patterns; strengthening innovation; and promoting strategic partnerships. He invited all participants to continue raising awareness on the importance of sustainable plant production for achieving the SDGs, establishing this roundtable mechanism to provide advice and guidance on future work on sustainable plant production systems, build on the momentum and outcomes of the conference and agree on future priority areas.

In the keynote address session, Martin Kropff, Global Director of Resilient Agrifood Systems (RAFS – CGIAR) who served as Co-Chair of the GPC Steering Committee and Chair of the GPC Technical Advisory Panel, provided a summary of the Global Conference on Sustainable Plant Production and the challenges ahead, such as climate change, among others. Jingyuan Xia, FAO Director of the Plant Production and Protection Division, presented five core activities as follow-up actions from the GPC recommendations: sustainable seed management; sustainable cropping system management; sustainable plant health management; sustainable agricultural mechanization and digitalization; and sustainable technology innovation and transformation. Director Xia also announced that the Proceedings of the Global Conference on Sustainable Plant Production were published today.

In the Stakeholder session, four presentations were made from GPC co-chairs Juliana Jaramillo, Rainforest Alliance, Roma Gwynn, International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association, Shamie Zingore, African Plant Nutrition Institute, Elizabeth Nsimadala, Director of Women Affairs at the Pan-Africa Farmers Organization, President of the East African Farmers Federation and member of the FARA Board Representative. During the discussion, highlighted was the need to manage soil health, to harness crop diversity and biological interactions to provide farmer focused options that are context specific through partnerships, knowledge sharing, innovation, private and public sector support to ensure global plant production systems are sustainable and resilient to changes in climate and market preferences.

In her closing remarks, Deputy Director-General Bechdol underlined the way forward to transform sustainable plant production systems through innovation, technologies, communication and partnerships. She also highlighted the need for continuity throughout the forthcoming years to harness the acquired expertise, inviting all participants to further build on these recommendations at the upcoming Global Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization, 27 – 29 September 2023.