On September 25, 2020, the INTER-BIO Association and INTER-BIO Consortium together with USH Pro Business organized, in Tulcea, the seminar and debate “Challenges from organic farming sector”, an event held in hybrid format (online and offline, at the hotel Esplanade, Tulcea).
The event was attended by: producers and processors, members of clusters and associations in the field of bio, representatives of the academia, representatives of public authorities in the field of public procurement, experts in promoting food for export, FIBL experts, university start-ups in the field of IT.
The purpose of the event was to bring to the attention of operators in the field of organic farming, the advantages of practicing this type of agriculture, little known to farmers and especially consumers, little promoted and modest or not supported by the authorities.
There were presented: the challenges in the field of green public procurement for organic agriculture; the concrete steps that stakeholders should take in terms of procedures, certifications, training in the field of green procurement; the ways to actively involve all stakeholders in the field in order to achieve the goal of the European Union – to increase to 25% of the cultivated areas in ecological system, until the year 2030.
Also, there were presented innovative solutions for agriculture, based on digital technologies related to geo-spatial data processing and artificial intelligence, as well as solutions in the category of new fertilizers for organic crops.
Another important topic on the agenda of the event was related to the promotion of organic agri-food products for export. The message of the American importer for farmers was to join forces to prepare joint offers of organic processed products, from categories such as: processed fruits and vegetables, cheese, bakery; to know and meet the conditions for entering the USA organic market; to participate in fairs and exhibitions organized in the USA.
“We were pleased to see the international audience at the event, from Switzerland and the USA and the presence of the representatives of all the clusters in the consortium. We are proud that USH Pro Business presented precision and digital agriculture solutions, well appreciated by the cluster managers, farmers and processors present” said Costin Lianu, General Manager of USH Pro Business, President of the INTER-BIO Association.
“Our solution improves the activity of local agricultural cooperatives by reducing the time allocated to planning the activity and supports the alignment of Romanian agriculture with global digital standards” said Dragoş Manolea, representative of the innovative start-up Agro-Future.