Group says UK agriculture needs clearer plan to unlock its potential, reduce dependence on imports, and contribute to global food security
A cross-party group of MPs and Lords has called for the UK to increase domestic food production by 30 per cent by 2050, while reducing UK agriculture’s environmental footprint by 50 per cent
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture (APPGSTA) has urged the UK government to adopt what it’s calling the ‘30:50:50 vision’, an ambitious new innovation agenda for UK farming, focused on clear, long-term objectives.
Speaking at an opening ceremony for Agri-Science Week in Parliament, APPGSTA chair George Freeman MP welcomed the government’s commitment to food security and the fact that Defra minister Daniel Zeichner has confirmed the government wants the country to produce more food.
But Freeman said there was serious doubt over whether current farming policies would deliver on that ambition.
“We have to question seriously whether the state of affairs this government has inherited, and the policies put in place by the previous administration, are likely to support an ambition for the nation’s farmers and growers to produce more food.
“We heard recently, for example, that our dependence on wheat imports is at its highest since records began 30 years ago.
“This year, we are on course to produce just 15 per cent of our vegetable oil requirements, rather than 40 per cent a decade or so ago.
“UK potato production is at its lowest level for more than a decade, and Defra figures indicate that UK self-sufficiency in fresh vegetables, at 53 per cent, is at its lowest since records began in 1988, while for fresh fruit we produce just 16 per cent of our needs.
“This isn’t about talking the industry down. With our good soils, temperate climate, professional farming sector, and world-class agri-science base, Britain is well-placed to produce more food, more sustainably, and to reduce our dependence on food imports.
“In doing so, we will also be better placed to contribute to the global food security challenge by developing and exporting technological solutions, increasing our own food exports, and fostering international R&D collaboration.”
Freeman added: “Britain has some of the most cutting-edge, world-leading research taking place in research institutes and university departments across the country. But we need a clearer plan to unlock its potential, and to translate that fantastic science into on-farm innovation.
“And our farmers and growers desperately need clarity and consistency about their purpose, first and foremost, as food producers.
“That’s why the All-Party Group is launching its vision for an Innovation Agenda for UK Agriculture, as the start of a conversation which we hope will result in a more evidence-based approach to helping the nation’s farmers and growers to produce ‘more from less’.”
Freeman explained that the urgency of UK and global food security, affordability, and sustainability challenges mean that clear, long-term objectives are needed to harness the latest advances in agricultural science and innovation.
“The UK government wants the country to produce more food. But even the government’s own assessments warn that current farm policies will reduce and displace food production.
“Meanwhile our regulatory processes stifle access to agricultural innovation and, despite increases, R&D investment is not translating into farm-level productivity growth.
“A new vision is needed to re-frame the policy, regulatory and R&D agenda with an ambitious, high-level objective to increase domestic food self-sufficiency, while reducing UK agriculture’s environmental footprint.”
Freeman pointed to the US, which has set out a high-level Agricultural Innovation Agenda, with a goal to increase production by 40 per cent by 2050, while halving US agriculture’s environmental footprint. He said the UK must adopt a similar, long-term objective to increase food production sustainably.
“We believe a realistic ambition would be to increase domestic food self-sufficiency from its current 60 per cent to 75 per cent over the next 25 years. Taking forecast population growth into account, this means increasing UK agricultural production by 30 per cent by 2050,” he said.
The APPG 30:50:50 vision document can be viewed here.
