In his speech, the minister has referred to the demonstrations of farmers and ranchers these days in defense of their interests. Before an international audience, he said that these calls for attention from producers are similar to the protests that have happened in countries such as France, Germany or the Netherlands.
Given this situation, the minister has requested an effort from society as a whole to achieve a better remuneration for its products and also a greater social recognition of its work.
As he stressed, society is changing, as do the ways of producing, and digitalization will play a key role to face this change, in which we must go hand in hand with farmers and ranchers, the people who produce the foods.
Digital transformation
The minister has insisted that we are at a key moment to advance in digitalization, to improve life in the rural environment, and in the implementation of a more sustainable agriculture model that allows us to produce more and better, with the use of fewer resources .
To this end, farmers and ranchers in the European Union will have such important tools as the European Green Pact and the Common Agricultural Policy, which will allow to optimize processes, improve decision-making and, ultimately, continue producing food Healthy, quality and reasonable prices. They will also contribute to improving the distribution of added value throughout the value chain, by facilitating exchanges and transparency of processes.
In addition, the minister has assured that Spain has an agri-food sector committed to digital transformation that, together with administrations and other sectors, is creating structures, applications and different actions to boost this process. An example of this is the Forum on digital transformation and Big Data (Datagri), which has had more than 2,000 participants in its fourth edition.
Spanish digitalization strategy
In this context, Planas has pointed out that the promotion of innovation and the digitalization of the agricultural sector has been one of its priorities since being in charge of this Ministry. Thus, since 2019, the Spanish Strategy for Digitization of the Agrifood and Forestry Sector and the Rural Environment, a pioneer in Europe, whose objectives are to reduce the digital divide, promote the use of data and boost business development and new ones Business models.
Within this framework, the 2019-2020 Action Plan already has an advanced level of development, with measures aimed at training, the acquisition of digital skills or the exchange and interaction between digital innovation centers.
Likewise, the minister stressed that Spain is one of the countries with the most budget to support innovation in the framework of the CAP. In this way, our country allocates more than 120 million euros to support the innovation cooperation of the European EIP-Agri initiative. It is an initiative of great interest that in the last call registered more than 250 applications, of which 100 addressed innovations in the field of digitalization and the use of big data. This year a new call will be published for 14 million euros.
In addition, Planas has shown the great interest of its Department in promoting aspects such as training and knowledge transfer, so that innovation and digitalization are successful, inclusive and fair, leaving no one behind.
