The agricultural activity requires good environmental conditions, which enable farmers to make the most of natural resources, produce a variety of products and thus earn a living. At the same time, agriculture contributes to the sustainable development of the rural environment, enabling the rural population to earn income by producing and selling healthy and safe food.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union, created in 1962 with the aim of meeting the needs of the European population for food, has proven to be very successful to this day. Not only has its basic goal been achieved, but it has also brought economic growth and encouraged the production of better quality food. Today's goal of the CAP is, above all, to ensure a stable supply of quality and safe food at affordable prices, but also an adequate income for farmers, which will enable them to modernize and develop production.
"The common agricultural policy is a goal that we are constantly striving for and that we are trying to achieve. The latest reform of the CAP, whose implementation has been postponed to early 2023, gives us space to try to bring domestic agricultural policy as close as possible to the CAP, "said Milanka Davidovic, head of the Department for European Integration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management. politics and green architecture. The conference, held at the 89th Agricultural Fair in Novi Sad, was jointly organized by the ministry and the European Union-funded project "Strengthening Capacities for Alignment with the EU Acquis in Agriculture, Rural Development, Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Policy".
The reformed CAP is much more focused on protecting the environment and combating climate change, preserving biodiversity and sustainable use of resources, as well as preserving the landscape. All these elements together form a green architecture in agriculture that will receive significant support through the new CAP.
"New in relation to the previous CAP, and regarding green architecture, the conditionality has increased, the goal of which is to raise the awareness of farmers about the need to respect certain conditions and standards." Then there are eco-schemes, sectoral interventions for fruit and wine, and an important step in implementing green architecture is strengthening the agricultural advisory service and the system of agricultural knowledge and innovation, "said EU project leader Snježana Španjol at the conference.
She also explained that in Serbia it is not obligatory to respect the standards of green architecture in agriculture and that the recommendations in that direction are to develop a single guide to good agricultural practice that would initially be applied on a voluntary basis and then introduce conditions and requirements. with defined priorities. It is also necessary to strengthen the cooperation of the competent services with agricultural farms, work on training and informing farmers.