Rodgers opens debate on agriculture in Belfast

The Stormont Minister for Agriculture Bríd Rodgers has said European agricultural policy will have to focus less on supporting food production and more on strengthening rural economies if it wants to successfully adapt to the changing global climate.

In the opening address to the Confederation of European Agriculture conference in Belfast on Monday September 24, Bríd Rodgers said the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was coming under great strain and would need to evolve over time.

She said: “Pressures will arise in the coming years with European Union enlargement, budgetary concerns and the drive for greater trade liberalisation under the World Trade Organisation.

“Collectively these will put unbearable strains on the CAP as we know it and we have to accept what we all know to be inevitable that the Common Agricultural Policy will need to change and evolve over time.

“Ultimately, the policy debate will centre not so much on the direction of change, but on the pace of change.

Mrs Rodgers also told around 500 delegates at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall that many in the farming industry would find it hard to adapt to the challenges lying ahead for the industry.

But she stressed no one should be left to cope with the changes demanded of them unaided.

“Our goal must be to help the industry through the transition period and to ensure that the rate of change can be accommodated by the sector without undermining its economic foundations or causing irreparable damage to rural society and the rural way of life.”

Mrs Rodgers was welcomed to the conference by National Farmers` Union president Ben Gill.

The three-day conference will be attended by European Agriculture and Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler, UK food chain minister Lord Whitty and European Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne. (AMcE)