15. Welcomes the Commission's increased focus on Europe's bioeconomy; calls for a substantial part of the next research framework programme to be earmarked for RD in the efficient use and management of farm-inputs management and improving agronomic efficiency; stresses that the results of research must be translated into the practical enhancement of agricultural production through training and capacity-building for farmers; stresses the need for better collaboration between the public and private sectors, as well as farmers' organi ...[+++]sations, in this regard, thereby delivering practical applications on the ground which could improve and modernise the industry;

This funding mainly comprises support for programmes of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which are implemented by the CGIAR's 15 centres and their implementing partners, and support to regional networks such as the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern, Southern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and the Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la recherche et la Développement Agricole (CORAF).

69. Stresses the importance of publicly funded research which serves to promote food security rather than focusing one-sidedly on industrial interests; calls for investment in research not only into individual new technologies but also into comprehensive farming systems which will serve the aim of long-term food security; stresses in this connection the pioneering role which could be played in this field, for example, by a EU technology platform for ecological agricultural research;

80. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote research and development to prevent and adapt to climate change, including, inter alia, research into the next generation of biofuels, in particular the use of high-yield energy crops, environmentally friendly fertilisers that are as effective as possible, new agricultural technologies with minimum negative effects on land use, the development of new plant types that are resistant to changes in climate and related diseases and research into ways to use waste in agriculture;

70. Stresses the importance of research but also of transferring the knowledge gained through research down to farm level through an effective farm extension service, particularly in the developing world; calls for a strengthening of agricultural research and knowledge generation;

Research will focus on: development of the necessary tools for integrated management of coastal zones (ICZM); evaluation of positive and negative externalities under different production systems for agriculture and forestry; development of strategies for sustainable forest management considering regional specificity; strategies/concepts for sustainable management and multipurpose utilisation of forest and agriculture resources; cost-efficiency of new environmental-friendly processes and recycling technologies within the integrated forestry/wood chain.