EU beefs up agri-educational links with China

The EU is beefing up its agricultural links with China through a temporary Erasmus-like exchange programme for young farmers.

Funded jointly by the EU and China, the 18-month programme seeks to promote more climate-friendly ways of farming, particularly through the use of new technology.

On the EU side, the programme will be paid for by a fund dedicated to advancing the bloc's "strategic interests".

Corkman Alan Jagoe, a dairy and cereal farmer and head of the European young farmers' council (CEJA), said the same challenges - access to land, credit, advice and education - exist for farmers the world over.

"We are not in competition but are partners in our field," Mr Jagoe said at the signing of the new EU-China exchange programme. "This cooperation between Chinese and European young farmers will give us all a better understanding of our future."

He also said the move could help to raise awareness of the need for generational renewal in the countryside. More than half of all farm managers in the EU are aged 55 or above, with an average of only 6pc under 35. "We need to ask ourselves, who will be those people that are feeding the world in 20 years' time," Mr Jagoe said.

The news comes the same week agriculture minister Michael Creed signed a deal to open up the Chinese market to Irish beef, fish and horse exports.

Irish agri-food exports to China have tripled in the last four years, from around € 240m in 2012 to €780m in 2016, according to the Department for Agriculture.

It makes China Ireland's third-largest export market for agri-food products, in value terms, after the UK and US.

Dairy products make up the bulk of Ireland's export trade with China, which is now Ireland's second-biggest export destination for dairy after the UK.

The EU has no free-trade deal with China in place, but is currently negotiating a bilateral investment agreement.

The EU and China signed a "cooperation plan" on agriculture and rural development in 2012.