There was a very good turnout at a meeting in Hvanneyri about the increased value of agricultural products offered by the Association of Young Farmers, the Agricultural University of Iceland and Matís last night. Representatives of the meeting announcers and representatives from all the main candidates for the parliamentary elections next weekend got on board. In the next few days, we will discuss the meeting and highlight the main things that took place there.
Many interesting points were made in the candidates' speeches and it seemed to everyone how to increase the value of agricultural products, but all the candidates agreed that innovation, research and development are the basic principles that must be present for increased value creation to take place in agriculture. . This is interesting in light of the fact that in next year's budget proposal and the fiscal plan for the next five years, the current Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture proposes that funding for Matís be cut by 12% or about 51 million. This is completely at odds with the policy of all parties to promote innovation in Iceland.
Ásmundur Einar Daðason from Framsóknarflokki said that he has followed the development of Matarsmiðja Matís all around the country over the years. He said that while there are plans for cuts, Matís would probably deal with those plans and prepare. At the same time, the company could not apply in a normal way and continue to work on the great projects that were going on all around the country. The cut would therefore be in stark contrast to the content of the meeting, increasing the value of agricultural products.