AFR's Botanoiu: EU and farmers share same goal, but do not necessarily agree on how to achieve it

The new desideratum of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) - a more climate-friendly agriculture - is a goal that farmers, including Romanians, are not hesitant to achieve, although what they denounce is the path through which you can get there, says the president of the Romanian Farmers Association (AFR), Daniel Botanoiu.

"A more respectful agriculture with the planet is also a desideratum of the Romanian producers because their productions largely depend on the evolution of the weather. The hot or excessively rainy weather only leads to the decrease in the incomes and, finally, to the abandonment of their activities, with the encouragement of migration. Although the European Union and farmers share the same goal, they do not necessarily agree on how to achieve it. Take the example of meat. Animal husbandry is too polluting, according to European bureaucrats. The Union therefore wants to limit this type of activity. Instead of two cows per hectare, only one would be allowed in. There will be fewer markets for animal feed, so smaller contracts. If we reduce the meat production, from whom will we buy it? Obviously we will buy if we have money, from the producers on the other side of the planet, without necessarily knowing the quality of the product. And I am not sure that European aid will be enough to cover this deficit," Daniel Botanoiu underlined in a statement for AGERPRES regarding the challenges of the new Common Agricultural Policy for Romanian farmers.

He says farmers who are already struggling to make money risk losing their incomes even more, given that they will have to invest in much more expensive equipment or plant protection products, and it is the citizen who risks paying indirectly the bill "if you want to keep quality food on your plate at a fair price."

According to the quoted source, energy is responsible for 77.01% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, of which transport accounts for about a third. "Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture contribute 10.55%, industrial processes and product use by 9.10%, and waste management by 3.32%. EU emissions by pollutant are CO2 - 80% Methane - 11%, nitrous oxide - 6% and hydrofluorocarbons - 3%. Agriculture, due to plant photosynthesis, is the first CO2 receiver," said the AFR head.

The Common Agricultural Policy supports almost seven million beneficiaries in all European Union countries. In the financial year 2021, there were approximately 6.4 million beneficiaries of income support, 3.3 million beneficiaries of rural development measures and 120,000 beneficiaries of support provided by market measures.

Romania has allocated through the CAP the amount of 21.65 billion euros for the period 2021-2027: Pillar I - 13.6 billion euros, of which for market measures - 363 million euros, and Pillar II - 6.9 billion euros for rural development. To this amount is added the funding through the Next Generation EU mechanism, worth 700 million euros.

Of the total allocation, the amount of 15.9 billion euros remains strictly for the National Strategic Plan in the period 2023-2027, Botanoiu said.