The investigation promises to be all-encompassing looking at a range of agriculture sectors and effects on inputs too. 'The first part of this two-part study will report on the status of weather monitoring systems, how thy can enhance disease and pest control predictions and how they can add to forecasting crop quality,' said Stephen Davison, senior research executive at Produce Studies Research. The second part of the study will look at climate change up to 2020 and aims to predict the potential impact this will have on crop and food production.

The study will cover all important production regions and look at the likely impacts of climate change such as increasing frequency of flooding and storms, and the changes in pest and disease pressure as well as the resulting effects on pesticide use patterns.

'There has been a lot of work on climate change and what we will be doing is putting it into context and applying it to the growth and production of food crops,' said Davison. 'It is something that has not been done before.' The report is intending to be a major reference work and 'invaluable aid' to any organisation or company in the agricultural or food industry.