Agrobiotechnology: agriculture and R&D&i, keys to the transformation and strengthening of Spain

BIOVEGEN participates in the blog of the Association of Biotechnology Communicators (Comunicabiotec) through the article "Agrobiotechnology: agriculture and R&D&I, keys to the transformation and strengthening of Spain"

The health emergency caused by COVID-19 has been a tremendous blow to economic activity and Spanish society. The pandemic has completely altered the normal functioning of the country, revealing the -already existing- structural deficiencies of our economic and social fabric: low level of investment in innovation and training, economy too focused on the tertiary and services sector, ecosystem of small companies with difficulties in growing, low efficiency of productive factors, among other important imbalances.

This panorama highlights the great importance of agriculture and R&D&I as essential tools for society to overcome the challenges derived from the health crisis, such as the increase in demand for food products while guaranteeing their supply.

He agri-food sector is strategic and of great social, territorial, economic and environmental importance. The agri-food value chain, which includes production, transformation and marketing, generates more than 9% of the Gross Domestic Product and contributes to the generation of more than 12% of total employment in the Spanish economy. Furthermore, Spain is the fourth largest exporter of agri-food products in the European Union, contributing 9.4% of total exports. These exports represent a sales figure of 49,502 million euros (16.9% of the total exports of the Spanish economy) while imports of agri-food products reach 37,384 million euros (11.4% of the total goods imported nationwide). national). Thus, the sector shows a trade surplus of 12,118 million euros.

The Agriculture face new challenges which are determined by the demographic increase that will increase the demand for raw materials, by consumption preferences, by environmental and legal aspects and by aspects related to the globalization of the economy. Overcoming these challenges requires an increase in the efficiency (higher productivity with fewer inputs), quality (nutritional, organoleptic) and sustainability (less environmental impact, waste reuse, etc.) of agriculture that can only be achieved through the application of new developments. technological.

The knowledge generated in applied Plant Biology offers a set of strategic technologies (bioinformatics, genome editing techniques, agrobiologicals for plant nutrition and protection, waste revaluation and circular economy, new plant sources for obtaining protein...) that will allow us to address global challenges. (productivity, sustainability, quality) that the agri-food sector faces.

Therefore, the agriculture, as an essential sector that has not stopped its activity and that has guaranteed the supply of all types of agri-food products, and the R&D&i, which offers high added value solutions based on knowledge and technology, generating qualified jobs that are not so subject to presence, stand out for their economic and social relevance, proving essential to face current and future challenges.

At BIOVEGEN, as an association of companies and R&D centers in plant production, we are committed to technology and We will continue to promote R&D and public-private cooperation as a tool for competitive development of the agri-food sector, and as a well-being tool for Spanish society.