Which EU-China priorities for food, agriculture and biotechnology R&I?

Research and innovation in the field of Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology (FAB) has been identified as a key priority for the EU – China cooperation, with a dedicated EU - China Task Force on FAB established in 2013.

In the scope of this flagship initiative, the European Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture and rural development, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Horizon 2020 funded project DRAGON-STAR plus hosted an EU – China FAB expert seminar on 27 October 2016.

The seminar brought together around 60 experts from both EU and China to discuss and explore potential further developments of the EU-China research and innovation cooperation in the FAB fields.

Specific objectives of the workshop were to:

• discuss and develop further, with the help of experts, the thematic areas selected by the FAB Task Force that could be interesting for further bilateral collaboration;
• identify possible objectives for action to address common challenges, hence forming the basis for further development of challenged-based topics of mutual interest.

The seminar consisted in two plenaries (opening and closing) and 6 parallel thematic sessions in the fields of:

1. Management of genetic resources and pre-breeding / Bioinformatics
2. Nutrient recovery and recycling (NRR) from agricultural and other organic waste
3. Food safety controls across the agri-food chain
4. Integrated plant protection
5. Basic research on intra-cellular pathogens of animals
6. Soil quality restoration and land management

In each of these sessions, experts presented their views on challenges and opportunities for cooperation from a Chinese or European perspective. Discussion then allowed participants to identify where are challenges of common interest and how best to tackle them through research and innovation. To learn more, see presentations and sessions' conclusions and thematic reports below.

Workshop documents

• agenda
• attendance list

Presentations & reports

Plenaries presentations

• Setting the scene - EU-China R&I cooperation within the FAB flagship initiative - Wenbo Liu
• Objectives and structure of the thematic sessions - Miroslav Bozic

Thematic sessions presentations and reports

1) Management of genetic resources and pre-breeding / Bioinformatics

• EU activities for the conservation and sustainable use - of genetic resources for food and agriculture - Annette Schneegans
• Genomic selection in wheat breeding - A program establishment and prospective - Dongcheng Liu
• Rapeseed production and research in China - Liang Guo
• Sustaining rapeseed production in the era of plant genomics and molecular biotechnologies - Lixi Jiang
• Towards new Brassica crops:Genetic improvement of Brassica hexaploids - Weijun Zhou
• Plant genetic resources - snapshot – main challenges - Ernesto Igartua
• Genebanks in Germany and harnessing of genetic resources - Frank Ordon
• Pre-breeding in wheat in Germany - Friedrich Longin
• Bioinformatics for Crop Biology - Paul Kersey
• Management of genetic resources and pre-breeding - Ricos Thanopoulos and Penelope Bebeli
• PGR management activities and challenges from a European perspective - Theo van Hintum

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report

2) Nutrient recovery and recycling (NRR) from agricultural and other organic waste

• Green development of biomass derived glycolipids for antitumor - Yanli CUI
• Insect-based biorefinery for converting waste biomass into protein and energy - Longyu Zheng
• Engineering means for effective organic pollutant control: securing the food production - ZHOU Yuguang
• Nutrient recovery and re-use - Daniel Mulas García
• Nutrient recovery and reuse - Relevant challenges in EU - Emmanuel ADLER
• Bioerefine cluster Europe - Energy & nutrient cycling for a sustainable economy - Erik Meers
• Nutrient recovery and recycling (NRR) from agricultural and other organic waste - challenges - Krystyna Malińska

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report

3) Food safety controls across the agri-food chain

• Food safety relevant FAB topics and projects - Miroslav Bozic
• Food Safety Challenges in the EU - Andras Sebok
• Mobile antibiotic resistome In human and animal gut microbiota - Baoli Zhu
• Microbial food safety research in China: major achievements & challenges - Weihuan FANG
• The agricultural food-borne pathogen monitoring technology researches - Yajin XIE
• A brief introduction on non-targeted screening and risk assessment approaches for emerging risks in agro-products - Yanyang XU
• Relevant challenges in EU for food safety in the food chain - Christophe Cotillon
• Food safety controls across the agri-food chain - Hein Imberechts
• Food safety controls across the agri-food chain - Paul Brereton
• EU-China joint experts - Sara Cunha

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report

4) Integrated plant protection

• Introduction - topics and projects of relevance under H2020 - Eleonora Ganci
• Research and development of green microbial metabolite pesticide for sustainable agriculture - Xuewen Gao
• Integrated plant protection - Xingang Liu
• EU-China FAB Flagship initiative - Integrated plant protection - Felix Wackers
• Crop protection & challenges ahead - Piet Boonekamp

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report

5) Basic research on intra-cellular pathogens of animals

• Research on animal diseases in the FAB flagship - Jean-Charles Cavitte
• Molecular epidemiology of mycoplasma hyopneumoniae - Guoqing Shao
• Strategies for intra-cellular protozoosis control - Jiyu Zhang
• Introduction of animal mycoplasma research team - Liu Henggui
• Challenges epizootic diseases in Europe - Wim van der Poel
• Epidemiological challenges in EU and research needs - Marisa Peyre
• Pig diseases - Poul Baekbo
• The Challenges of intra-cellular pathogens - Alex Morrow

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report

6) Soil quality restoration and land management

• Theories and engineerings of non-leguminous biological nitrogen fixation - Zubin Xie
• Impact of alternative cultivation methods on soil structure - Beata Houšková
• Soil compaction - Available water content in soils - Beata Houšková
• The Rhizosphere Laboratory - Lidia Sas Paszt
• What common priorities for research and innovation collaboration in soil quality and land management? - Pandi Zdruli

Conclusions for the plenary - Thematic report