Round table „Innovations in agriculture – a way towards sustainable development“

The round table “Innovations in agriculture – a way towards sustainable development“ has been held at the 86th International Agricultural Fair.

The round table was organised within the “Agriculture innovation towards growth and employment in cross-border region – AGRINNO” project. Vuk Radojević, PhD, Provincial Secretary for Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, Svetlana Belešević Tubić, PhD Director of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, and Vidosava Enderić, Director of the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina attended the round table.

Welcoming the crowded hall, Vuk Radojević, PhD said that the AGRINNO project was a challenge for everyone in the Secretariat. “We have turned the challenge into one of the priority goals in 2016, to become more actively involved in the work on cross-border cooperation programmes, in order to provide EU funding,” the Secretary said. He gave to the  participants an overview of activities implemented regarding the AGRINNO project and announced the remaining activities that were to be completed until the end of the project, such as seminars in Hungary and the installation of modern greenhouses in three secondary schools in Futog, Ruma and Vršac The AGRINNO project is planned to end in November 2019.

Svetlana Belešević Tubić, PhD, Director of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops ,pointed out that “in order for a sustainable Serbian economy to function, it is necessary for the economy to be based on knowledge and innovation”. In addition to developing varieties and hybrids for users, the Institute’s mission was to educate and transfer knowledge in the field of technology. The Institute wants to show that it is necessary to maintain production especially when it comes to vegetable production, which is the biggest benefit of the AGRINNO project, i.e. opportunities for young people to stay in the countryside, produce and live well.

Vidosava Enderić, Director of the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina, emphasized that the project main goal was to acquire knowledge, but also its sustainability. Education in rural population, with the application of modern production, contributes to increase in production in their own garden, and thus, to the growth of living standards. She also highlighted one of the roles of the Fund, which is the tendency to get closer and use as many grants as possible under the EU programmes available to us. A good example is the fact that the Fund is currently implementing 14 EU projects.

The round table, which was well visited, was also attended by partners from Hungary from Csongrád County, representatives of agricultural schools and incubators, who were, among other things, founded through the AGRINNO project, as well as a number of other guests.

The AGRINNO project has the opportunity to be presented to all visitors during the 86th International Agricultural Fair, at its stand in hall number 6 from 11th to 17th May 2019.