6. Welcomes the European Food Prices Monitoring Tool set up by Eurostat and the setting-up of the High Level Forum for a better functioning of the food supply chain, which must include the input sector operating upstream and should deliver better transparency on input price development and contribute to improved farm gate prices; insists that regular reports on progress made and concrete proposals should be transmitted to and discussed with the European Parliament;

77. Believes that farmers can contribute to biodiversity and environmental protection, as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation, in a cost-effective way; this therefore needs to be further incentivised; calls for the CAP to provide the opportunity for the vast bulk of agricultural land to be covered by agri-environmental schemes to reward farmers for the delivery of additional eco-system services while encouraging more sustainable, lower-input production models such as organic farming, integrated agriculture, the development of ...[+++] high-nature-value farming and sustainable intensive agricultural practices; considers that all these rural development measures should continue to be co-financed, with an increased budget if necessary;

79. Believes that farmers can contribute to biodiversity and environmental protection, as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation, in a cost-effective way; this therefore needs to be further incentivised; calls for the CAP to provide the opportunity for the vast bulk of agricultural land to be covered by agri-environmental schemes to reward farmers for the delivery of additional eco-system services while encouraging more sustainable, lower-input production models such as organic farming, integrated agriculture, the development of ...[+++] high-nature-value farming and sustainable intensive agricultural practices; considers that all these rural development measures should continue to be co-financed, with an increased budget if necessary;

77. Believes that farmers can contribute to biodiversity and environmental protection, as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation, in a cost-effective way; this therefore needs to be further incentivised; calls for the CAP to provide the opportunity for the vast bulk of agricultural land to be covered by agri-environmental schemes to reward farmers for the delivery of additional eco-system services while encouraging more sustainable, lower-input production models such as organic farming, integrated agriculture, the development of ...[+++] high-nature-value farming and sustainable intensive agricultural practices; considers that all these rural development measures should continue to be co-financed, with an increased budget if necessary;

- Safer and environmentally friendly production methods and technologies and healthier foodstuffs: The objective is to develop lower input farming systems (agriculture and aquaculture) based on systems such as integrated production, lower-input methods including organic agriculture and the use of plant and animal sciences and biotechnologies and improved transformation processes aimed at producing safer healthier nutritious, functional and varied foodstuffs, and animal feed, responding to consumer expectations, and improving the quali ...[+++]ty of food and feed through innovative technologies.

Research will focus on: development of improved integrated production systems, lower-input farming, organic farming and GMO-based production as well as processing and distribution methods and innovative technologies for safer, nutritious and higher quality food and feed; individual and comparative assessment of safety, quality, environmental impact and competitiveness aspects of different production methods and foodstuffs; improvement of animal husbandry, waste-management and animal welfare from housing to slaughter; application of plant and animal sciences and biotechnologies, including the application of genomics, for the developmen ...[+++]t of higher quality food raw materials and nutritious foods.