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It is the third time that Agroforum Mare Balticum is taking place in the main building of the Estonian University of Life Sciences on April 14-16. This year the focus is on food and energy sustainability

The topic of food and energy sustainability is derived from the fact that agriculture and food production consume the lion share of natural resources — 70% of water and 40% of energy. "In order to provide enough food for the growing population in the world, we need to double food production by 2050, while ensuring sustainable production and good environmental status," said the rector of the Estonian University of Life Sciences Mait Klaassen.

Klaassen said that agriculture is too much affected by a variety of risks and is controlled by contradictory regulations, for example, harsh environment regulations contrasting with cheaper and more intensive production. "People are not paying enough attention to maintaining soil fertility and the soils in several agricultural areas are therefore in a very bad condition, which in its turn influences the quality of agricultural production. Little heed is actually given to the impact the contemporary agricultural production has on human health, e.g. the intestinal microflora of the population in developed countries is severely impoverished as compared to that of the people in developing countries and, due to that we suffer significantly more from a variety of diseases and allergies. "

Peter Wallenberg, an expert, the leader of the project "Water and closed-loop systems” and a member of the Swedish Farmers' Association, says, "In order to realize a sustainable agriculture we need to maximize yield while minimizing environmental impact and creating closed loop systems. This we can only achieve by working more actively with capacity building among farmers, developing and applying innovative green technologies, promoting resource efficiency and conducting system analyses to better understand and improve urban rural linkages and (land) food chains."

Presentations will be given by internationally recognized scholars and opinion leaders. Prof. Dr. Dr. Harald von Witzke from Humboldt-University is describing the role agriculture has in the modern society, where the prevailing migratory trend in Europe is from the rural areas to the cities. Decision-makers often fail to take into account such factors, thereby causing problems in the society.

Prof. Allan Buckwell from the Institute for European Environmental Policy will focus on how the current EU agricultural policy works against sustainability instead of promoting it, whereas the current “rules of the game” do not make achieving a balance between environmental protection and intensive farming in Europe possible.

On Thursday the forum will concentrate on the developments and future prospects of livestock production in a situation where the demand for meat is increasing. Meat production is very energy intensive and has large environmental impacts. Poor welfare of production animals in intensive production processes directly affects the quality of meat and through its consumption the public health as well.

The conference is organized by the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonian Ministry of Agriculture, Estonian Chamber of Commerce, the Council of Baltic Sea States and the Rural Development Foundation in cooperation with the St. Petersburg University of Agriculture and welcomes delegations from 17 countries and such international organizations as the European Commission, OECD and FAO.

Agroforum Mare Balticum can be followed directly or later as a recording at: http://video.emu.ee.

For more information please see the conference website: http://agroforum.emu.ee.