Supporting genetic diversity in agricultural policy

Francis FayDeputy Head of Unit

Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission

Seeds for a sustainable future seminarEuropean Parliament 31.5.2011

The EU Programme 2006-2011 for genetic resources

• 17 actions

• plant and animal genetic resources

• 180 partners

• in 25 Member States and 12 non-EU countries

• started during 2007, running up to 4 years.

Objectives

• To promote genetic diversity in Europe,

• To conserve genetic resources in Europe,

• To contribute to Europe's input at international level on genetic resources.

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First Community Programme under former Council Regulation (EC) N° 1467/1994 21 co-funded projects: 17 plant + 4 animal (9 €Mio)17 plant projects: Allium, Avena, Hordeum, Beta, Brassica, Daucus, Solanum, Ulmus, Vitis, Zea, Fruit trees, Prunus, Oryza, RosaGENRES brochure: outcome of 20 co-funded projects

First Community Programme under former Council Regulation (EC) N° 1467/1994 21 co-funded projects: 17 plant + 4 animal (9 €Mio)17 plant projects: Allium, Avena, Hordeum, Beta, Brassica, Daucus, Solanum, Ulmus, Vitis, Zea, Fruit trees, Prunus, Oryza, RosaGENRES brochure: outcome of 20 co-funded projects

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Second Community Programme under Council Regulation (EC) N° 870/2004

17 co-funded actions: 12 plant + 5 animal (10 €Mio)

12 plant projects: Leafy Vegetables, Grapevine, Forest, Saffron, Small berries, Rice, Garlic, Crop wild relatives, Oats, Artichoke, Hazelnut and Almond, Gooseberries

Second Community Programme under Council Regulation (EC) N° 870/2004

17 co-funded actions: 12 plant + 5 animal (10 €Mio)

12 plant projects: Leafy Vegetables, Grapevine, Forest, Saffron, Small berries, Rice, Garlic, Crop wild relatives, Oats, Artichoke, Hazelnut and Almond, Gooseberries

2012: evaluation of outcomes of the 38 GENRES projects

• Needs and future priorities for promoting plant genetic resources at EU level ? – Analysis of plant genetic diversity (plant, population,

agro- ecosystems), – Characterisation (phenotype and genome): improve the

knowledge– Ex situ conservation: gene banks, data bases,

catalogues (maintenance and harmonisation), European core collections, etc…

– In situ conservation: need for closer link with breeding and farming activities

– Communication and training: fill the gap between science, stakeholders (farmers and breeders) and policy makers.

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Future perspectives

► Agri-environment payments (around 19 bn€ i.e. 44% of Axis 2)“To rear farm animals of local breeds indigenous to the area and in danger of being lost to farming and to preserve plant genetic resources naturally adapted to the local and regional conditions and under threat of erosion". Articles 39(1)- 39(4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 and Article 27(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1974/2006:

2008: 0,013% (15.7 m€) of the total agri-environment (1,2bn€).

► Specific support "Operations at national and regional level for specific support for the conservation of genetic resources in agriculture.” Article 39(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No1698/2005 and Article 28(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1974/2006:

2008: (plants and animals) 0,008% (11 m€) of total agri-environment

For the period 2007-2013, 7 Member States through 15 RDPs representing 78 Mio € applied specific genetic resources measure.

Rural development programming

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Type of rural development action

• Conserve species and varieties used by farmers and rural populations, adapted to local environmental conditions and produced in traditional systems.

• Support establishment and maintenance of conservation fields, including collection expenditure;

• Support classification and valorisation of genetic plant resources (regional varieties);

• Support information dissemination, according to the technical rules previously defined by the coordinating structure;

• Support dissemination of the valorised genetic material;• Purchase of services and equipment to support ex-situ

conservation and information exchange.

EU quality schemes

• Geographical indications: 6 PDO for Saffron (1 Greece, 1 Spain, 4 Italy)

• Organic farming: 4.1 % of total EU-27 utilised agricultural area (UAA) in 2007 (7.8 mio ha in 2008)

• Traditional specialities guaranteed

Thank you for your attention

Francis FayDeputy Head of Unit

Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentEuropean Commission

World Bank seminar, 25.5.2011

Website: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/genetic-resources/index_en.htm