Does the UK need a strategic plan for growth in the agricultural technology sector in order to address global food security, sustainably, and to keep pace with growing competition from emerging markets?

That will be the subject of a roundtable discussion to be held later today with Minister for Universities and Science, Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Defra Minister Lord Taylor, and senior figures from the UK’s leading research institutes, the farming sector and the agricultural industry.

The meeting, chaired by George Freeman MP, Chair of the All Party Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture, marks the launch of ‘Going for Growth’, a new report on the potential economic opportunity presented to the UK by agricultural technology research and innovations, published by the Agricultural Biotechnology Council.  

This follows the UK Government’s Foresight Report ‘The Future of Food and Farming 2011’, which highlighted that ‘there are real sustainable gains to be made from combining biotechnology, agronomic and agro ecological practices. Because of the significant time lags in reaping the benefits of research, investment needs in new knowledge needs to be made now to solve the problems in coming decades’.

Farmers need access to agricultural tools to help them produce high quality affordable food, in a way that makes the most of limited land and resources. Europe, and the UK specifically, has lacked a strategic plan for the sector, while countries like Brazil and China have understood this sector’s worth, have encouraged investment and are now reaping the benefits.

Minister for Universities and Science Rt Hon David Willetts MP said:

 “Food security is a global challenge which is increasing as the population grows and climate change threatens agricultural areas. Britain has traditionally been at the forefront of research. We continue to be committed to finding ways of producing food efficiently and advocating the role of agricultural technology to tackle the problem.”

George Freeman MP, Chair of the All Party Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture, added:

“Given the urgency of identifying opportunities for export-led growth in the British economy and the growing global challenge of food security and sustainable development, I believe we have a golden opportunity to attract significant inward investment and international technology transfer from the UK agriculture research sector.

“Agri-science, alongside biomedical and cleantech, is one of the three strands of the growing global bio-economy.  We need a new partnership between government, agriculture and our research base to put new biotechnology to work to tackle the biggest problems in our society.”

The ‘Going for Growth’ report received significant support and input from across the agricultural technology sector, including the NFU, National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) and public research institutes including Rothamsted Research and The Sainsbury Laboratory.

Peter Kendall, President of the NFU, welcomed the publication of the report, saying:

“Farming delivers £8.8 billion to the UK economy and supports 3.5 million jobs and underpins the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, food and drink. Agricultural technologies help farmers to grow more and grow it in a way which manages agriculture’s environmental impact.  UK farmers need to be able to choose from all available technologies to remain competitive in the global market, whilst working hard to protect and enhance millions of hectares of British countryside. A forward-thinking strategy for agricultural technology research is essential to help UK farmers continue to meet the future food and farming challenge.”

Professor Jonathan Jones of the Sainsbury Laboratory said:

 “UK public sector institutes are engaged in cutting edge research into crop technologies used around the world to meet the challenge of changing climatic and growing conditions. There is a huge opportunity for the UK to build on this and become a global centre for agricultural research – given the right support from Government and organisations throughout the food chain.

“We welcome the calls to action in this report and look forward to working with policy makers and others to create the right strategic framework for research to flourish”

Dr Julian Little, Chair of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council said:

“British science is one of our great national assets and agriculture is a growth area for the UK economy. Innovations in agricultural science are taking place at British institutes right now – both advanced, including GM, and conventional breeding techniques.

“From soybeans in Brazil to maize in Spain and papaya in Hawaii to oilseed rape in Australia, farmers around the world are using such innovations to improve the reliability and returns of crop production and to produce more food more sustainably. Encouraging British research and providing farmers access to all of these new technologies represents an exciting growth potential for the UK economy, and is a key tool to help them to compete in the global agricultural market.”

The report was prepared by the Agricultural Biotechnology Council (abc) with the input and support from the National Farmers’ Union, NIAB, The Sainsbury’s Laboratory and Rothamsted Research, and contributions from individuals at the James Hutton Institute, and leading universities including the Universities of Cambridge and Leeds. click here to view the report.

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