Agriculture Ministry: Priority in finding and using new, more resistant varieties

The combination of traditional best practices in crops and modern scientific innovations will enable our country to face the challenges of the future, but also anyone who wants to work professionally in the primary sector to grow and ensure a good income, said the Minister of Agricultural Development and Food, Mr. George Georgantas, announcing the beginning of the work of the 30th Conference of the EEEO held at the Agricultural University of Athens.

In his speech at the Conference of the Hellenic Society of Fruit and Vegetable Science, Mr. Georgantas focused on the conditions that shape the unstable international environment and the effects of the climate crisis on the primary sector.

Due to the climate crisis, the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure pointed out the need to give priority to finding and using new, more resilient crop varieties. At the same time, he stressed that improved agricultural practices are vital to minimizing the potential negative effects of climate change on health.

He also said that we must maintain the diet that we inherited from our ancestors by adapting our production to it, while taking advantage of the new opportunities provided by science, to ensure the quality of food produced in our country.

Regarding how the Mitsotakis government perceives these issues, he noted that its perception is based on a fundamental change in relation to yesterday’s policies: “To move from the model of family exploitation to that of the agricultural enterprise and at the same time the strengthening of the cooperative, agricultural collective schemes. We believe in the multiplier power of the union, of many producers, together. Our government plan for the agricultural sector has as its axis the strengthening of competitiveness and the transition to a new model of rural entrepreneurship”.

Concluding, Mr. Georgantas pointed out to attending scientists “This new model can thrive and develop using your scientific umbrella and your knowledge.”