On the heels of the UK government's Strategy for Agricultural Technologies, the widely touted agri-tech strategy launched last Monday, which promises to refocus science spending in agriculture, the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) announced this week that it had convened its own Task Force to support the scheme.

NCUB exists to foster collaboration between businesses and universities. The task force will attempt to find ways of boosting the UK's food economy, through collaboration between business and universities, with government support.

Saisbury's Chief executive Justin King and Professor Quintin McKellar, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Hertfordshire and former Royal Veterinary College principal will chair the group. The task force's steering group features Leeds University professor and 'Food Security Champion' Tim Benton, a BBSRC director, Rothamsted Research director and chief executive Maurice Moloney and a number of other heads of higher education institutes, alongside executives and advisors from Unilever, Marks and Spencer and Syngenta.

NCUB said on Monday that its team would focus on ensuring that universities in the UK produce "intellectual and innovative" graduates and research required by the highly competitive food industry.

Task force chair Quintin McKellar said, "Profitable and sustainable Agriculture and food industries are vital to the UK and they must be resilient to extremes of weather and other disrupting events. These industries require innovative graduates and ground breaking research to remain competitive and responsive; this initiative will support that agenda."

Conservative George Freeman MP, Chair of the All Party Group for Science and Technology in Agriculture, welcomed the move. He said, "The UK's world leading food industry and globally renowned science research base have a unique opportunity to work together, with the Government's help, to reach new emerging markets. I welcome the establishment of this Task Force in response to the Government's new Agri-Tech Strategy and the work it will do to ensure the UK's expertise in the food sector remains revolutionary."

However, rather than focusing on the opinions of leaders of Britain's largest food companies and those already setting the research agenda, Tom MacMillan, director of innovation at the Soil Association said, "Whether [the agri-tech strategy] is good for farming, the environment and consumers will depend on how well government involves working farmers and the public... The challenge is to make sure this is a strategy for innovation in agriculture, not just for the manufacturing and supermarket industries that are upstream and downstream of farming."

He continued, "This would mean giving farmers and consumers a direct say in decisions about research funding, and investing much more in agroecology - approaches like organic that help farmers buy fewer inputs and make best use of the renewable resources."