Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52EUROPEAN-SEED.COM I EUROPEAN SEED I 15 it is becoming more and more difficult to attract young people to enter the industry. At the same time, the world population is expected to grow by 60 per cent by 2050 and it will become more important than ever to produce more using limited resources.   “The best way to achieve these combined objectives is through ‘green growth’, with solutions which contribute to a productive agricultural sector and have a positive impact on the environment. ‘Green growth’ requires a more efficient agriculture, which helps farmers better use limited resources whilst increasing supply,” Pesonen added. “In order to foster ‘green growth’, farmers need high-quality seeds and propagating materials which are well- adapted to a large range of agri-climatic conditions and uses. High-quality, reliable and performant genetic material is extremely important for all types of agriculture, including conventional and organic, especially in Europe. Knowing that the varieties have been tested and evaluated according to established criteria is a form of assurance for farmers. Yield must still be included in the list of VCU (Value for Cultivation and Use: performance tests) criteria, which is of the utmost importance for farmers, to give them the possibility of choosing the best varieties,” Pesonen said. “In order to foster ‘green growth’, we also need a policy framework for agriculture which gives priority to research and innovation. We have successfully improved productivity by employing new cultivation methods, new plant varieties or even new species as well as new organisation techniques. But we also have to ensure that knowledge is transferred to farmers and they uptake innovations. The future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Horizon 2020 should promote productivity in a sustainable manner, for instance via the investment measures available in the EU rural development programmes and the European Innovation Partnership.” Pesonen said together with the European Seed Association (ESA), COPA & COGECA are involved jointly in the European technologic platform to lobby research policy and still get public support for plant genomic improvement. He is proud of the results achieved on the 2020 Horizon Program for research. “Now it’s time that the main players of the research come back to this platform if we want to stay credible in the eyes of the Commission.” Plant Breeding Innovation New Breeding Techniques (NBTs) are also very important tools to support innovation in the plant breeding sector. Indeed, they have a fundamental role to play. NBTs evolve rapidly. “They offer many new possibilities in plant breeding. For instance, they make it possible to precisely edit plants, thus allowing the development of new functions to optimise existing features or identify and develop new traits. By permitting a greater use of genetic variability and a better use of existing genetics, NBTs can provide solutions to the numerous challenges that European agriculture is facing. NBTs contribute to developing varieties that use fewer inputs, improving the quantity and consistency of yields, adapting to climate change, producing sufficient and high- quality food, and diversifying crops for production in order to optimise crop rotations. NBTs go hand-in-hand with other technological developments, such HISTORY OF COPA AND COGECA The Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community signed on 25 March 1957 already contained the most important framework provisions of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The relationship between the community authorities and the representatives of the agricultural sector was left open by the Treaty, but the Commission expressed its desire for close cooperation at an early stage and invited representatives of agricultural organisations to attend the 1958 Stresa Conference as observers. Farmers themselves were convinced of the importance of the Community for their sector, and on 6 September 1958, the first European representative organisation, COPA, was created. One year later, on 24 September 1959, the agricultural cooperatives of the European Community created their European umbrella organisation, COGECA (General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives). The Secretariat of COPA and COGECA merged on 1 December 1962 and is based in Brussels. When COPA first started out it had 13 member organisations from the then-six Member States. Today COPA is made up of 60 organisations from the countries of the European Union and 36 partner organisations from other European countries such as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. When COGECA was created it was made up of six members. Since then, it has seen an almost six-fold enlargement and now has 35 full members and four affiliated members from the EU. COGECA also has 36 partner members. COPA and COGECA Secretary- General Pekka Pesonen.