Planas: "The circular bioeconomy will enable more efficient, competitive and sustainable agri-food production"

Family photo from the 17th Agriculture Ministers' Conference of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture 2025 held in Berlin

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, stressed "the importance of the circular bioeconomy to achieve a more efficient, competitive and sustainable agri-food production". In addition, it highlighted the important role it plays in stimulating progress and growth in rural areas.

Luis Planas participated in the 17th Agriculture Ministers' Conference of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture 2025 in Berlin, together with 70 other ministers and senior officials. At the end of the high-level session, the leaders adopted a joint declaration on the use of the bioeconomy in the sector, committing to address the main challenges of the future: how to produce and use biomass sustainably to ensure global food security, to strengthen innovation and communication, and to create socially, ecologically and economically just framework conditions.

During the session, Luis Planas outlined Spain's efforts to strengthen innovation in the bioeconomy and gave as an example the economic incentives, the approval of appropriate regulations and the collaboration between knowledge agents, companies and producers.

Specifically, Planas detailed the use of biofuels and bioenergy, which reduces the consumption of fossil fuels; the digitalisation and robotisation of farms and the agri-food industry; the use of advanced organic fertilisers and biostimulants; the use of regenerated water in agri-food production; and the development of biotechnology products for application in both industry and the countryside.

The minister mentioned the more than 700 innovation projects in the agri-food sector promoted in Spain and also announced that in 2025 the Government will launch a call for more than 46 million euros to finance the implementation of innovative projects in this field.

As a good example of circular bioeconomy, Luis Planas highlighted Spain's commitment to using non-conventional water sources. "A major, perhaps lesser-known contribution to the bioeconomy is sustainable irrigation. Modernisation of irrigation means better use of water with reused water, treated water or water from desalination," he said. He recalled that the Government is immersed in the largest support plan for sustainable irrigation in Spain, with an investment of more than 2.4 billion euros up to 2027, which will allow for the modernisation of more than 700,000 hectares.

The minister pointed out that "another alternative that increases the circularity of the economy is organic fertilisation, i.e. the use of by-products of animal production such as manure or slurry". This is a good alternative from a production point of view, he stressed.

Planas acknowledged the fundamental support provided by European funds to guarantee innovation in the sector and also stressed the need to review the regulations that hinder innovation in the bioeconomy in order to take advantage, for example, of certain types of waste or to use New Genomic Techniques (NTG).

The minister also mentioned other examples of innovative projects that promote the use of microalgae as biostimulants, the use of energy from livestock waste and the use of olive stones to manufacture more sustainable products. Also important, according to Planas, is support for emerging companies that are committed to bioplastics and those that have developed technology to convert bioethanol into sustainable chemicals.

Non official translation