"The role of innovation realised within the agrarian sector will be increasingly valuable in future, and the European Union is providing funding for this purpose during the 2014-2020 period", the Ministry of Rural Development's Minister of State for Parliamentary, Social and International Relations Katalin Tóth emphasised at the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP) conference held in Budapest.

The National Food Chain Safety Office (NÉBIH) organised the conference with the aim of raising awareness with regard to agrarian innovation and the opportunities available within the European Innovation Partnership, which is one of the EUs strategic goals.

At the event, Katalin Tóth spoke of the fact that there is a need to connect those with theoretical knowledge with the people who perform farming activities, and the Partnership enables agricultural businesses to gain knowledge that ensures a viable agriculture with long-term sustainability.

Deputy State Secretary for Agricultural Economy Zsolt Feldman reported on Hungarian plans with relation of European Innovation Partnership within the field of agriculture (EIP-AGRI), stressing that the new Rural Development Programme allows those involved in agriculture and the food industry to be granted support for cooperation regarding agrarian innovation and for the realisation of innovative development projects.

Mr. Feldman emphasised that innovation and the inclusion of the transfer of knowledge within the rural development programme is a new element compared to previous budgetary periods. In his lecture, the Deputy State Secretary explained that the innovation and cooperation capability of Hungarian agriculture is not suitably high and domestic agrarian research and development does not necessarily occur according to market requirements.

In comparison to its competitors, there is plenty of room for development with regard to cooperation between the representatives of the Hungarian agricultural economy and scientific life. To this end, the European Union is providing a funding opportunity that those involved should make the best possible use of. According to plans, consortiums in which businesses, scientific institutions and advisory organisations cooperate to realise an innovative project may receive funding towards the establishment of the partnership, operating costs and development projects relating to the innovation to be realised, the Deputy State Secretary for Agricultural Economy explained.

According to information provided by the National Food Chain Safety Office, which organised the event, the Europe 2020 Strategy has earmarked 4.5 billion Euros for research and development within the fields of food safety, ecological farming and sustainable agriculture. The concept of the EIP-AGRI aimed at improving agricultural productivity and sustainability is to establish a bridge between business practice and scientific research, thus increasing European competitiveness.

(MTI, Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)