The trading floor and the exhibition booths opened this morning at 08.00, closing for the day at 18.30. For those of you who were not busy on the trading floor or in the booths, it was a full day today, with four Section meetings, and a side event.
The day kicked off with the Oil and Fibre Section, containing an interesting panel debate on Europe’s Plant Protein Strategy, and panellists discussed whether such a strategy is future or perhaps fiction. Nick Vangheluwe of Euroseeds gave an update on the Legume Generation project and some fascinating market updates were given on oilseed rape, sunflower, soybean, and hemp.
Before lunch, the Section Forage and Grasses was held. Attendees were presented with ‘The EU and World Seed Market – a sneak preview of a new data collection’ by Nomman Ahmed of Kynetec. Jared Onsando of Euroseeds spoke about the new EU regulations on seed statistics. Also during this session, Csaba Gaspar of the OECD Seed Schemes highlighted the work that the OECD is doing on its digitalisation project, and the impact this will have for seed companies.
Early afternoon during the Maize and Sorghum Section, Amalia Kafka of Euroseeds gave a presentation of the future of seed and crop protection in Europe. Francesco Mattina, President of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) shared the latest developments within his organization. Read our interview with Francesco Mattina last year.
Cereals and Pulses was the last Section meeting of the day. There was an interesting panel debate titled “A new seed law for Europe (I): common principles or derogations?”. Panellists from the EU Commission, EU Parliament, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, and the seed sector discussed the proposals for a new EU seed law. This will affect all of Europe’s plant breeders and seed traders, and the conversation was quite interesting.
In case you wish to share your thoughts on social media, and find out what others are saying, make sure to use the hashtag #Euroseeds2023
If you ‘d like to learn more about what else is on the program of the Euroseeds congress, please see here: https://euroseedscongress.com/programme/
