EU: Europe must approve modern plant breeding and protection to avoid dependence on food supplies from abroad - analysts

Under the new circumstances criticism of the EU’s “farm to fork“ policy becomes louder. Europe cannot afford to depend on food supplies from abroad, as it does for gas and oil, but must give up its ideas of idling fertile lands, and must approve of modern plant breeding and plant protection to maintain a large enough grain and oilseed production, the H. M. Gauger GmbH analysts said in their March report.

There has been a formal request to allow use of ALL GMO grains in the EU. Poor crops in 2021 and larger demand had already pushed up markets, but the supply gaps from the Black Sea have led to a (temporary?) price explosion. Other factors impact markets as well: inflation of 5.8% in the €-zone, of which energy 31.7%, high freight cost and hampered logistics.

The forecasts of the 2022 grain crops were altogether positive, the grain industries expected much lower price levels for new than for old crop grains. However, with the Black Sea remaining closed, the new campaign prices may finally look much worse, the analysts said.

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