Skopje, 7 July 2022 (MIA) – The Agricultural Council will not be involved in politics. Everyone will offer proposals and solutions based on their own concepts and ideas, said Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Ljupcho Nikolovski at Thursday’s constitutive session of the Council of Agriculture and Rural Development held in the government. Nikolovski said that the Council’s priorities will be local production and food provision, announcing new measures to support autumn sowing, created by the Agricultural Council during the summer. Minister Nikolovski mentioned the work already done before the Council members, reiterating the National Plan for Support of Food Production. He believes that this country, as any other country in the world, is facing a great challenge – the crisis that deepened with the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “The world has fully mobilized in food production. We’re taking timely steps to support agriculture in cooperation with all affected parties and relevant actors. In that context, the Agricultural Council has an obligation, above all else to the country, to suggest, discuss and find realistic solutions. I’m convinced that we’ll give it our all. Our task will be to motivate farmers to give everything locally produced to local processing capacities,” Nikolovski said. He expects a “wide, constructive debate”. The government decided to reactivate the Agricultural Council, which was first founded in 2012, but it never quite took off the way it was intended to with the Law on Agriculture and Rural Development. The Council consists of presidents of constant subsector groups, representatives of associations of producers, processors, economic chambers, scientific representatives, representatives of consumers and representatives from the societies of the units of local self-government and environmental protection associations. dk/ba/