Sustainable agriculture

During his speech at the symposium, Minister Czesław Siekierski stressed that the transformation towards sustainable agriculture was necessary and inevitable.

– The current geopolitical situation shows that it is necessary to increase the resilience of the agricultural sector not only to climate change, but also to the disruption in agricultural markets caused by the difficult political situation – said Minister Siekierski.

The head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture pointed out that when discussing agriculture and climate, one should be aware of the impact of climatic conditions on the quantity and quality of yields, and, as a consequence, on the availability of high-quality food. Extreme climatic conditions have a negative impact on the economic situation of farms.

– It is true that agriculture is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. However, we should remember that it plays an important role in mitigating climate change, through crops and trees growing in agricultural areas – emphasised the head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture.

Poland appreciated Denmark’s rich experience in the field of climate and environmental transformation of agriculture and expressed its readiness to cooperate in this field.

– I believe that today’s symposium will be an important step towards strengthening Polish-Danish cooperation with respect to transforming agriculture into more climate-friendly one – said Minister Siekierski.

After the meeting, the Ministers of Agriculture of Poland and Denmark participated in the signing of a letter of intent concerning cooperation between the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture and the Danish Agricultural Agency. On the part of ARMA, the letter was signed by President Wojciech Legawiec and on the part of Denmark by Lars Gregersen, Director General of the Danish Agricultural Agency.

Transforming agriculture into environment-friendly one

– The Common Agricultural Policy is evolving from a pro-productive to a pro-environmental one. This is a good direction. Counteracting climate change, taking care of well-being and the environment are important challenges, but we must be very careful so as not to burden farmers with excessive costs. Farmers must have a certain level of income guaranteed – said Czesław Siekierski during the meeting with the Danish minister.

The Minister stressed that Ukraine’s accession to the European Union required preparation.

– We are helping Ukraine so that it could adapt to the acquis communautaire. The opening of the EU market to Ukraine must not take place at the expense of European farmers, especially from the neighbouring countries – said Czesław Siekierski.

The head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture emphasised that the problem was food waste while a large part of the world was malnourished.

– It is necessary to create regulatory mechanisms in the European Union so that food from Ukraine goes where there is a threat to food security. There is a need for organised measures with regard to bioeconomy. We must maintain a balance between the goal of climate action and ensuring food security – said the head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture.

Czesław Siekierski stressed that what was needed was the understanding of the challenges of time, development of new technologies and transfer to practice.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Czesław Siekierski and the Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Jacob Jensen declared that they wanted to cooperate within the framework of the future Polish and Danish presidencies in the EU Council