2.1. Sustainable agriculture and forestry

Appropriate knowledge, tools, services and innovations are necessary to support more productive, environmentally friendly resource-efficient and resilient agriculture and forestry systems that supply sufficient food, feed, biomass and other raw materials and deliver ecosystems services while at the same time protecting biodiversity and supporting the development of thriving rural livelihoods. Research and innovation will provide options for integrating agronomic and environmental goals into sustainable production, thus: increasing productivity and resource efficiency, including water use efficiency, of agriculture; increasing the safety of animal and plant production; reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions; reducing the production of waste; reducing leaching of nutrients and other chemical inputs from cultivated lands into terrestrial and aquatic environments; decreasing dependence from international plant derived protein imports to Europe; increasing the level of diversity in primary production systems; and fostering the recovery of biological diversity. Activities will enhance productivity as well as the adaptive capacity of plants, animals and production systems to cope with rapidly changing environmental/climatic conditions and increasingly scarce natural resources. The resulting innovations will help to move towards a low energy, low emission and low waste economy and to reduce natural resources demand along the entire food and feed supply chain. In addition to contributing to food security, new opportunities will be created for the use of biomass and by-products from agriculture for a wide range of non-food applications. Multi-disciplinary approaches will be sought to improve the performance of plants, animals and micro-organisms, while ensuring efficient resource use (water, land, soil, nutrients, energy and other inputs) and the ecological integrity of rural areas. Emphasis will be placed on integrated and diverse production systems and agronomic practices, including the use of precision technologies and ecological intensification approaches to benefit both conventional and organic agriculture. Also urban greening will be promoted, with new forms of agriculture, horticulture and forestry in urban and peri-urban areas. These shall be considered by addressing new requirements for plant characteristics, cultivation methods, technologies, marketing and urban design, in relation with human health and well-being, environment and climate change. Genetic improvement of plants and animals for adaptation, health and productivity traits will call for all appropriate conventional and modern breeding approaches and for preservation and better use of genetic resources. Due attention will be given to soil management for increasing the productivity of crops. Bearing in mind the overall objective of ensuring high quality and safe food production, plant and animal health will be promoted. Activities in the area of plant health and plant protection will increase knowledge and support the development of integrated environmentally friendly pest management strategies, products and tools to prevent the introduction of pathogens, control pest and diseases and reduce yield losses at pre- and post-harvest levels. In the area of animal health, strategies for the eradication or effective management of diseases, including zoonoses, and research on antimicrobial resistance will be promoted. Integrated control of disease, parasites and pests will be strengthened, starting from a better understanding of host-pathogen interactions, to surveillance, diagnostics and treatments. Studying the effects of practices on animal welfare will help meet societal concerns. The above listed areas will be underpinned by more fundamental research to address relevant biological questions as well as to support the development and implementation of Union policies and supported by adequate assessment of their economic and market potential. Agriculture and forestry are unique systems delivering commercial products but also wider societal public goods (including cultural and recreational value) and important ecological services such as functional and in-situ biodiversity, pollination, water storage and regulation, soil functions, landscape, erosion reduction, resilience to flooding and droughts and carbon sequestration / greenhouse gas mitigation. Research activities will contribute to a better understanding of the complex interactions between primary production systems and ecosystems services and will support the provision of these public goods and services, through the delivery of management solutions, decision-support tools and the assessment of their market and non-market value. Specific issues to be dealt with include the identification of rural and (peri-)urban farming/forest systems and landscape patterns likely to achieve these goals. Shifts in the active management of agricultural systems - including the use of technologies and change of practices - will increase greenhouse gas mitigation and the adaptive capacity of the agriculture sector to the adverse effects of climate change. Development opportunities for rural communities will be mobilised by strengthening their capacity for primary production and delivery of ecosystems services as well as by opening avenues for the production of new and diversified products (including food, feed, materials and energy) which meet the increasing demand for low-carbon short-chain delivery systems. Socio-economic research and science and society studies along with the development of new concepts and institutional innovations is needed to ensure cohesion of rural areas and prevent economic and social marginalisation, foster diversification of economic activities (including the service sector), ensure appropriate relations between rural and urban areas, as well as facilitate knowledge exchange, demonstration, innovation and dissemination and foster participatory resource management. Also, there is a need to look at ways in which public goods in rural areas can be converted into local/regional socio-economic benefits. Innovation needs defined at regional and local levels will be complemented by cross-sectoral research actions at international, inter-regional and European levels. By providing the necessary analytical tools, indicators, integrated models and forward-looking activities, research projects will support policy makers and other actors in the implementation, monitoring and assessment of relevant strategies, policies and legislation, not only for rural areas but for the whole bioeconomy. Tools and data are also required to allow for proper assessment of potential trade-offs between various types of resource use (land, water, soil, nutrients, energy and other inputs) and bioeconomy products. Socio-economic and comparative assessment of farming/forestry systems and their sustainability performance will be addressed. The aim is to sustainably produce bio-based products ecosystems, services (including water-related and climate-mitigation services) and sufficient biomass, with due consideration to economical, ecological and social aspects of forestry as well as to regional differences. Overall, activities in the forestry sector will seek to promote multi-functional forests which deliver a variety of ecological, economic, and social benefits. Activities will focus on the further development of sustainable forestry systems which can address societal challenges and demands, including forest owners' needs, by putting in place multifunctional approaches that reconcile the need for delivering smart, sustainable and inclusive growth taking into account climate change. These sustainable forestry systems are instrumental in the strengthening of forest resilience and biodiversity protection and the need to meet the increased biomass demand. This will need to be underpinned by research on tree health and on forest protection and restoration from fire.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.