On 13 June, the Patio de la Infanta of Ibercaja in Zaragoza hosted the presentation of the report on "Contribution of maize breeding in Spain: Social, economic and environmental implications of plant breeding ". The report has been prepared by the Institut Cerdá of Barcelona. The event was chaired by the Regional Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Environment of the Government of Aragon, Mr. Joaquín Olona Blasco and Ms. Elena Sáenz, Director of Anove.
The report was presented by Lluís Inglada, Director of Territory and Sustainability of the Institut Cerdá, who explained the objectives and methodology of the report and a series of indicators related to maize cultivation. The report deals with 4 crops in terms of their importance and impact in Spain, namely bread wheat, maize, tomato and blueberry.
After the presentation, a round table was organised with a large group of representatives from different sectors, namely Lluís Inglada (Director of Territory and Sustainability of the Institut Cerdá), Luis Tolosa (Anove- Director Mas Seeds), Pedro Gallardo (President ASAJA Cadiz), José Luis Romeo (President of the Spanish Maize Producers Association), Carlos Lapetra (Tereos), Diego Pazos (Secretary General of AECEC), Ana Hurtado (Technical Director at CESFAC), and Emilio Betran (Director of the Centre for Plant Health and Certification).
The most important conclusions of this report are that seed and plant breeding contributes almost 1,000 million euros per year to the Spanish economy. According to the report, between 1990 and 2017, public companies and centres dedicated to plant breeding contributed a total of 16,697 million euros to the Spanish economy. Beyond this economic impact, plant breeding also has important consequences for agricultural development, by significantly increasing employment. As the report also points out, "the plant breeding sector is key to food and the economy", as plant breeding is at the origin of agri-food chains and of the processes involved in the production of plant derivatives.
The full report will be published on the websites of the Institut Cerdá and ANOVE.