The mobilization of farmers in our country and throughout Europe is bringing to the forefront this week a reality that is as evident as it is concerning: the agricultural sector needs viable, sustainable, and profitable solutions for producers and, of course, regulations and bureaucracy that make the already complex work of those dedicated to the land easier, without neglecting food safety and quality.
This is also what we believe at MAFA. As our CEO, José Carlos Sánchez Gálvez, states, “sustainable agriculture needs innovative solutions, consensus, and less bureaucracy.” “Unfortunately, we are living in a legal void that, combined with the ongoing issues in the sector due to the lack of legal consensus and poorly defined regulations, sometimes leaves producers of biosolutions for crops ‘tied hand and foot’ to continue researching and generating inputs that address the needs imposed by the climate emergency and the necessity to feed a growing global population. We need a stable regulatory framework, agreed upon, and subject to review if it doesn’t align with the current reality,” he adds.
As a company dedicated for over 50 years to creating products that solve the needs of crops, we believe that public-private collaboration is essential for establishing the regulatory frameworks of Spanish and European agriculture. It is so crucial, in fact, that these regulations should contemplate the role that technology and innovation must continue to play if we want agriculture to truly have a future.
The European Green Deal is needed more than ever today, but it must be reviewed and completed by including farmers, who know better than anyone what challenges the field is facing and what is possible to apply in their day-to-day work.
“Bureaucracy and legal voids cannot continue suffocating agriculture,” says the CEO of MAFA, who laments that the European Union withdrew the plan to reduce pesticides by 50% just at the start of the tractor protests. “All of us who are dedicated to generating biological solutions for the field, researching natural and non-toxic alternatives for crops, believe, to a greater or lesser extent, that this slow pace of approving the products needed for 21st-century agriculture is harming the sector significantly and, above all, the producers, who are witnessing how legislation on chemical substances is becoming increasingly strict,” Sánchez Gálvez states. He recalls a relevant fact: in the last 7 years, more than 100 types of chemical products have stopped being used, and only half of the biocontrol products have been incorporated into agricultural practices.
What is the result? Agricultural producers today are completely disoriented, and it is normal for them to feel ‘alone’ in the face of a reality they don’t know how to manage. They can’t fight pests or diseases with the products from before, but they also don’t have those biosolutions that are being gradually implemented and are not yet fully regulated by the EU. “It is also important that there be clear and decisive communication and training from institutions for them, as they need to know what solutions exist and are being developed, and how to implement them on their farms,” says José Carlos Sánchez.
Biostimulants, prebiotics and probiotics, biofertilizers… These are the ‘tools’ of agriculture for the coming decades, an agriculture capable of ensuring food production with optimal food safety. “That’s why it is also a priority that both European products and those from third countries consumed by the European population meet the required food quality and sustainability standards.”
“The sustainable agriculture that we all want and need cannot wait any longer. An effective, balanced regulatory framework is urgently needed. And, above all, one that finally addresses the reality that concerns farmers.”
