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With the recent announcement by the UN that global food prices hit a record high in January, the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) has welcomed the 'timely' release of the UK's Global Food and Farming Futures Foresight report, which highlights the urgency of the food security challenge.

'EU policy-makers should view the report as further compelling evidence of how advances in science and technology must be applied to help global agriculture produce enough affordable nutrition,' said Friedhelm Schmider, director general of the ECPA.

Central to the report is a recognition that the current global food system is failing, and that more food needs to be produced from existing land and resources through the 'sustainable intensification' of agriculture.

'Europe is currently heading in the opposite direction, promoting high priced, unproductive agriculture by incentive and suppressing the contribution of crop science through prohibition and overly precautionary regulation,' an ECPA statement read.

'The report makes clear that meeting the challenge will require targeted investment in agricultural research to increase the yield and climate resilience of food crop production. No technological approach should be ruled out and access to innovation should be determined according to scientific and evidence-based criteria.'

In the wake of the Foresight report, ECPA welcomed the commitment from the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and secretary Caroline Spelman to work with EU policy-makers and beyond. This will include French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has identified food security as a priority for his Presidency of the G20 during 2011.

'This is an authoritative and far-reaching report, with national and global relevance, conveying a clear and urgent message of the need to increase production, reduce waste, cut emissions and free up trade to address the pressures facing the global food system,' said Mr Schmider.

'There is no point having one group of policy-makers advocating the use of new agricultural technology when another group appears intent upon blocking progress in areas such as GM crops and crop protection,' he added.

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