For the Institute of Agri-Food Research and Technology (IRTA), 2024 has been an intense year, in which it has continued to promote an important generational changeover and has begun to develop the 2024-2027 Strategic Plan. This plan includes scientific challenges as relevant as contributing to optimize water management, boosting the digital transformation of the agri-food sector or strengthening resilience against emerging biological risks. Now that 2025 has begun, we spoke with IRTA's general director, Josep Usall, about the major challenges facing the sector in Catalonia.

Where is the agri-food sector heading?
If there is a key word, it is sustainability, which includes economic and social sustainability, both essential, and environmental sustainability, for which we must work more than ever, producing with less impact on the environment. And a second trend that is gaining momentum in our sector is the adoption of new technologies, which will, in fact, be an essential tool for achieving sustainability.

New technologies in both the primary sector and industry…
The primary sector is having a harder time: its reality makes it more traditional and, in general, new technologies are not designed for this sector, which makes it difficult to adapt them to its needs. But a lot of work is being done in this area. In the industrial sector, technology is making a strong entry, especially in two areas: data management and robotization.

In what way?
We generate a lot of data that we do not use, but if we were able to manage it correctly, it would provide us with very useful information when making decisions; it would allow us to know where we stand or what our strengths and weaknesses are. Data are and will be essential in the future. Now we must know how to manage them efficiently, since we have more and more mechanisms and sensors to obtain them. Also, data, together with new technologies, help us to ensure the traceability of products; that is, they allow us to record and know all the processes that a food product has gone through, which gives a lot of security to the sector and to consumers.

And as for robots…
They must help us perform tasks for which there is no specialized labor force. The lack of such personnel is already one of the sector's biggest challenges, which can jeopardize its viability. At the same time, robotization should enable these tasks to gain in efficiency and thus improve their sustainability. And, while the emergence of new tools such as robots will generate a decrease in certain professional profiles, on the other hand it will lead to the need for new, higher value-added and better paid profiles.

What about artificial intelligence (AI)?
AI is another world. It is hard for me to imagine what the future will be like when it is fully implemented, but it is very likely to have a much greater impact than the industrial revolution or the green revolution. With AI, jobs will be lost, even in very specialized professions, but it also opens up many opportunities that we will have to take advantage of, so we must inform ourselves and prepare ourselves as much as possible. At IRTA we have held training sessions on this topic throughout 2024, and we already have several projects underway.

So, what should Catalan agri-food companies take into account in the current context?
Until now, the Catalan agri-food industry has been very competitive because it is dynamic and innovative. It has managed to offer good quality and good prices, which has allowed it to export and consolidate its position as the main industrial sector in Catalonia and one of the most important in Europe. The innovation-price binomial has worked very well. But now it is time to turn it into a trinomial: we must add consumers and citizens in general. We need to have them on our side and they need to appreciate the important work that the sector does to be able to supply safe, quality food, day after day, while taking care of the environment.

And what does this trinomial mean?
Well, thinking about people and their demands leads us to minimize the environmental impact. To remain competitive, the Catalan agri-food industry faces the great challenge of reducing its impact on the environment and increasing the income level of producers while innovating. Large multinationals in the sector are increasingly demanding more guarantees in this regard from their suppliers, some of which are, precisely, our agri-food companies. And this is because multinational investors are also changing their priorities, driven by the changing mentality of consumers, who in the end are the great engine of transformation and change.

“To remain competitive, the Catalan agri-food industry must reduce its impact on the environment and increase the income level of producers while innovating.”

How important is primary production in terms of environmental impact?
The transformation sector has an impact, but the data indicate that the production sector has more. This does not mean that it is the sector with the greatest impact, far from it, but we must be aware of this and know which links in the chain have the greatest potential for improvement. We need a great joint effort, especially bearing in mind that the Catalan agri-food sector is highly verticalized: there are large companies that control production, processing and even the point of sale. And, I repeat, consumers are increasingly demanding to know how food has been produced.

What are the most relevant obstacles to innovate while reducing environmental impact?
There are three major challenges. First, as I mentioned earlier, the agri-food sector tends to adopt technologies developed in other sectors, such as electricity or construction, so it is necessary to readapt them. Second, adopting and adapting new technologies, whether for production or environmental sustainability, has a cost that, in the short term, can reduce the competitiveness of agri-food companies, even though they can be very profitable later on. And this is because, in our country, they work with very tight margins and, in some cases, below cost price. It is important that governments define well which aid policies should be implemented. And third, there is a need for awareness of the importance of being more sustainable and introducing new technologies. There are value chains that are making a lot of money that they are using to make investments or to buy other companies and, in my view, they lack a more long-term vision, since investments in innovation -not spending- will eventually translate into economic sustainability.

Europe has a lot of weight in the regulation of the agri-food sector.
In recent months there has been a change of direction in the European Commission that I hope will be consolidated, but often do not take sufficient account of the sector and, in particular, the reality of the Mediterranean countries. Also, our agri-food sector has not been able to lobby sufficiently in Europe, as other territories do. When I say lobby, I am talking about knowing how to tell the reality here. With technical data, with good arguments, emphasizing that the sector is making a great effort to reduce its environmental impact and highlighting its role in the development of rural areas, in the fixation of population in the territory or in the management of the natural environment.

“Our agri-food sector has not been able to lobby sufficiently in Europe, as other territories do.”

In the field of research, is there enough knowledge transfer to make things easier for the sector?
In the case of IRTA, the transfer of the knowledge we generate is in our DNA. Every year we carry out some 700 dissemination activities for some 50,000 people. When we design our research, we already do it thinking about the challenges to be addressed, but surely we can do it better and more efficiently. However, it is true that in Catalonia, in Spain, and in Europe we are very good at generating knowledge and it costs us more to implement it. To encourage knowledge transfer, we need the self-interest of researchers and we need government policies, as well as greater awareness on the part of companies and business organizations. In short, a national pact is needed that affects all areas. An example: how is it possible that researchers are valued according to many criteria, but without taking into account the innovation and knowledge transfer they do? At IRTA, we have already changed this, and we consider it in our evaluation system.

Earlier we were talking about jobs, what is the current situation?
There is a need for many jobs that cannot be filled. From operational professionals, whether in the industry, in meat cutting plants or in fruit harvesting in the field, to highly qualified people, such as professionals in engineering, computer science, agronomy or veterinary science. We do not find veterinarians who want to be in slaughterhouses, on farms or in IRTA itself. The agri-food sector lacks specialized and trained labor, which hinders its modernization.

“The agri-food sector lacks skilled and trained labor, which hampers its modernization.”

And this, as we mentioned at the beginning, will continue to evolve with the unstoppable digitization of the sector…
To understand this situation properly, we must consider four relevant aspects. First, salaries in the agri-food sector are not very competitive because margins are lower than in many other sectors. Second, the current training system makes it difficult to generate specialized professional profiles like the ones we need. Thirdly, companies must become aware that the continuous training of their workers is essential, which means that part of their time must be spent on training and preparing for new challenges. And finally, it is necessary to dignify the sector. We have not been able to make it attractive, especially for younger people. Nor have we told it well.

Is there a lack of communication?
Yes, also at IRTA. If you don't communicate, someone else will do it for you. This is especially relevant in the meat sector. And, in general, in the agri-food industry. For example, we have not sufficiently communicated the quality and food safety guarantees offered by the industry. In IRTA's new Strategic Plan, we indicate that we want to work to tell and generate opinion on the issues we know most about. And we are already working on this.

This interview is an example of this. What other initiatives are important to make talent want to stay?
On the one hand, dual training. We need agreements with vocational training centers so that part of the apprenticeship is directly in the companies. Also, companies must be aware that this involves a salary that will be an investment in the medium term, and they must do it jointly with the administration. On the other hand, in the agri-food sector there is usually a lot of turnover and, to reverse this, it is necessary for human resources teams not only to be a center for hiring and payroll, but also to create loyalty mechanisms. Increasingly, people value flexibility, the social impact of their work or what they will learn during their professional career, beyond the salary or whether the contract will be indefinite.

In this context, and to conclude: how does 2025 look at IRTA?
We have a lot of work ahead of us, many challenges and a lot of pressure from the sector for us to help them, but we have a very committed and well-trained team. This gives us guarantees that we will be able to respond adequately and that we will be able to continue helping the sector in this unstoppable process of transformation. I would also like to highlight that this 2025 we will celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the institution: forty years generating knowledge and impact. And we want to highlight this.