Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee. Agricultural genetic resources – from conservation to sustainable use

With the prospect of an increasing world population, food security has become a challenge of paramount importance. Attention must be given to how to ensure a sustainable supply of food under changing environmental and climatic conditions as well as changing needs. Productivity, adaptability and resilience of agro-ecosystems depend inter alia on the availability of a rich genetic pool of farmed breeds and crop varieties.

Genetic diversity in agriculture is associated with a wide range of environmental and economic benefits which are essential for sustainable agricultural production, but correspond also to a wider range of societal interests. These benefits include varied traditional agricultural landscapes with rich flora and fauna, the production of foodstuffs with high organoleptic qualities, products which meet the specific needs of the agri-food industry, being of high relevance for new concepts of economic developments in agriculture like short supply chains and alternative tourism. It is also associated with a growing appreciation of local and traditional practices and their value in terms of cultural heritage.

Conserving genetic resources in agriculture is a long-term need that goes beyond national interests. Union Heads of State agreed in 2010 to inter alia halt biodiversity loss in the Union by 2020 and the Union took commitments under the Convention on Biodiversity and pledged to working towards these commitements in the Union Biodiversity Strategy adopted in 2011.

This Report highlights the opportunities arising from agricultural biodiversity and using its potential to address a wide range of environmental and economic challenges and opportunities referred to in the Europe 2020 strategy.

With this Report, the Commission intends to move ahead on the conservation of European's agricultural genetic diversity building on past experiences. It aims at recalling the need to conserve and sustainably use genetic resources and at ensuring that this objective is properly catered for in the ongoing development of relevant policies and programmes, notably:
- the Rural Development Policy, via its agri-environmental measures to target the level of practical farming and via the European Innovation Partnership to bridge practice needs with research activities and foster interaction between relevant actors;
- the Research & Innovation Policy with its Framework Programme Horizon 2020 to build up the knowledge base on genetic diversity in agriculture.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)838: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:838:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2013)486: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the report http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2013:486:FIN

ESO: Background information: Towards a better use of our Genetic Resources http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-towards-a-better-use-of-our-genetic-resources/

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