Innovation must be at the centre of new CAP, says co-op society

INNOVATION, market management measures and eco-friendly farming ideals must be central tenets in the new Common Agricultural Policy, according to the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS).

Addressing a special session of the EU committee on agriculture and rural development in Brussels, ICOS European affairs executive Conor Mulvihill said the new CAP needs to promote the position of farmer-owned co-ops across Europe.

“Co-operative businesses across Europe have always given numerous benefits to their members, the industry and rural communities in general,” said Mr Mulvihill. “They are an economically and socially sustainable business model, where the producer, processor and the marketer are vertically integrated with each other, helping rebalance what is at present a patently unbalanced food chain.