Today is the second meeting of CONSOLE project (Contract Solutions for Effective and lasting delivery of agri-environmental-climate public goods by EU agriculture and forestry) Follow us with the hashtag # CONSOLE2ndmeeting
The European Conference on Crop Diversification took place from September 18th to 21st, 2019 in Budapest (Hungary). The meeting explored how we can achieve the full potential of crop system diversification to improve productivity, the provision of sustainable and resource-efficient ecosystem services and value chains.
The temporal and spatial diversification of crops through practices such as rotation, multiple cultivation and intercropping (mixing of species) constitute key pillars of the transition to Agroecology. However, diversified agricultural systems will only emerge if clear benefits can be demonstrated for farmers and society, value chains are fully compromised and crop diversification is backed by policies.
The conference focused on all scientific aspects of the diversification of agricultural and food systems, on the practical implementation of crop diversification in value chains and on policy-related issues. In particular, the conference will address the following topics:
Benefits and practical experiences of crop diversification
Incentives promote diversification along value chains – approaches to evaluate the performance of diversified cropping systems at various scales
Focuses that foster crop diversification and accompany actors when they transition to sustainable European systems
Political recommendations to make the systems more willing to diversify crops.
Society is increasingly aware of the need to eliminate or mitigate the effects of human activities on the environment.
Agricultural Policy in the EU has partially re-oriented its objective towards the provision of public goods in rural areas (AECPG) acknowledging today’s society demands. In the legislative proposal for the next CAP programming period, it is foreseen to pursue this path further.
And specifically, the CONSOLE objective is to offer solutions, both for producers and to society in general, through development of improvements in agro-environmental and climatic goods within the framework of the new Community Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Below is the second working paper written by the Department of Policies B on the CAP within the National Financial Framework for the period 2014-2020.
The purpose of this document is to provide a comparison between the Conclusions of the European Council on February 7 and 8, 2013 and the EP positions at the current stage of the financial and sector organizations of the CAP. The objective is to provide qualitative and quantitative information to the members of COMAGRI regarding the financial concerns of the CAP to support ongoing contributions.
On July 16, the Joint Research Center of Seville hosted the presentation seminar on the CONSOLE Project to stakeholders (stakeholders) from different public administrations and private entities of the Andalusian community.
The event was attended by representative entities such as the Consejería de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca y Desarrollo Sostenible; TRAGSA; Asociación Española de Agricultura de Conservación y Suelos Vivos ; as well as representatives of the European Commission.
At the meeting, coordinated by the company EVENOR – TECH and ASAJA Sevilla , the CONSOLE Project was officially presented (CONECT Solutions for Effective and lasting delivery of agri – environmental – climate public goods by EU agriculture and forestry ), as an initiative developed by a consortium of 24 public and private entities from 13 countries of the European Union; which has the financial support of the Framework Program for Research and Innovation of the European Union, the Horizon 2020 program .
The proposal is led by Professor Davide Viaggi, specialist in Agricultural Economics, of the University of Bologna (Italy).
From the origins of the European Community (today European Union , EU), during the 50s of the last century, the community agricultural sector began to be regulated through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with the aim of guiding the production and the crops of the member countries; ensuring the way of life of the farmers of the member countries.
For this reason, the arrival of the new CAP next year 2020, requires new tools that allow the European agricultural sector to continue to provide society with promoting the delivery of Agri-Environmental Climate Public Goods (AECPGs) in an effective and lasting manner.
The CONSOLE project stems from this need, aiming to develop a framework to facilitate the implementation of new and improved measures for the provision of agricultural, forestry and environmental public goods.
In order to achieve this, it will compile the experiences carried out both in the European Union and abroad, proposing innovative solutions taking into account all stakeholders (farmers, agricultural and environmental associations, etc.), which will apply through the construction of a Community of Practice (CoP) in order to ensure success; for which the active collaboration of all the interested actors is necessary.
To test the different innovative solutions, they will be applied in the different case studies representative of the EU. In the case of Andalusia (Spain), EVENOR – TECH, together with ASAJA, will demonstrate the efficiency of Soil Carbon Sequestration technology for the monitoring of sustainable agricultural practices in olive grove cultivation.
