Minister Hofmann: Farmers themselves should play a key role in the processing sector

Minister of Agriculture Ignas Hofmanas met with members of the business community of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists. They discussed issues of relevance to the country's farmers, processors and food industry.

One of the most important topics was support for processing of agricultural products into higher value-added products. Although Lithuania has abundant agricultural resources, most of its products are processed abroad or exported without generating higher added value. Creating higher value-added products – not only means more jobs and economic opportunities, but also greater competitiveness of the country in international markets.

„Priority – for processing to be managed by farmers and for them to be the beneficiaries through co-operation. If our farmers, for whatever reason, do not co-operate, do not have the capacity or the finances, then they could invest alongside the business. In what proportions – that is a separate issue. If, in the end, even that is not possible, then of course we are interested in business investing in processing. We are very serious about recycling with the help of industry and business, especially in the case of grain, because we have a lot of this raw material and we export it, whereas we could create a higher value-added product here and everyone would benefit from it, both business and the national budget," said Minister Hoffmann.

The Minister raised the example of the Pienas.lt cooperative, which could be followed by cereal farmers. Lithuania needs a large grain processing plant of national importance, which could be built with the help of the state.

The meeting also discussed infrastructure – land reclamation structures, which are crucial for the agricultural sector. In this area, according to business representatives, the need for investment amounts to €2 billion.

The Minister agreed that this issue is very important and that ways are being found to solve the problem, but it all comes down to the huge need for funds.

„It is very unfortunate that for 35 years the state has not paid proper attention or finance to at least maintaining the condition, you are absolutely right, the condition is getting worse and the problem is getting worse. We are relying on limited resources, where are we going to get the money from all of a sudden; we are talking about state-owned assets - highway routes and highway ditches. One of the ways is to use the Reclamation Fund to try to restore reclamation to its normal state," said the Minister, who stressed that all the areas that use the reclamation system must be involved in this process.

The meeting also discussed other important issues for business and agriculture as a whole.