García Tejerina encourages innovation and research to adapt to market developments
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Isabel García Tejerina, has urged the food industry to research, innovate and adapt its offer to the needs and demands of the market, being able to differentiate for competing on quality and keep winning positions and value added. García Tejerina has launched this message in the delivery of the first edition of Siro Group Foundation Award for Food Research, ceremony which she has presided.
During the ceremony, which took place at the headquarters of the Ministry, García Tejerina has been accompanied by the President and the Vice President of Grupo Siro, Juan Manuel González Serna and Lucía Urbán, respectively.
In his speech, the Minister has recognized 25 years in business of Siro Group “at the forefront of the Spanish food industry, playing an active and responsible leadership.” She also stressed its “strong commitment” to innovation, to the point of creating a “factory of ideas” which is a reference for the entire food industry.
In this context, the Minister emphasized the innovative value of projects awarded the prize and the second prize: “GIS Tools Advanced Help Decision Making for Sustainable Management Field Crop” of Navarro Institute of Technology Agrifood and Infrastructure (INTIA) which has been supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and the collaboration of the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET); and “From new yeasts, Cereals and Bakery Products” project led by Mercedes Tamame, from the Institute of Functional Genomics and Biology of CESIC (Salamanca).
García Tejerina congratulated the responsible for these two projects which has stresseed their contribution to further progress towards a better understanding of products and crops of great tradition in Spain.
Innovation and Rural Development
García Tejerina has drawn attention to the importance that innovation plays in rural development policy of the European Union, which is considered a cross-cutting priority. In that vein, she referred to the launch of the European Innovation Partnership on Agriculture Productive and Sustainable (EIP), part of the National Rural Development Programme through support to operational groups supra-regional and project implementation innovative public interest. As noted, 14 of the 17 regional Rural Development Programmes also allocate part of its resources to the EIP, so that the total public expenditure in Spain for the period 2014-2020 amounted to 120 million euros.
In addition, the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation EU Horizon 2020 has the strategic objective of promoting a science of excellence in Europe and develop technologies to improve the competitiveness of the industry.
With regard to MAGRAMA, García Tejerina has cited as an example of commitment to R + D + i the implementation of the National Program of Agricultural and Forestry Innovation which aims to transfer the results of R + D + i to farmers, ranchers, foresters and food industry.
In short, “Spain has a significant amount of resources for R & D+i in the food industry and has the needed tools to develop projects to respond to their real needs,” she has said.
Source: MAGRAMA
