Farmers can and will grow more food to feed a growing population while impacting less, according to the NFU.

NFU vice-president Gwyn Jones said that environmental sustainability needed to be delivered hand alongside economic sustainability if farmers are to make the necessary investments in their farm business.

Speaking after addressing at the Inside Government Food Security Forum, Jones said: “I am pleased to say the title for my part of the debate was Farming Matters - and it certainly does. But now it’s not only us farmers who think this; government and consumers are showing us they do too.

“With recent IGD figures showing that the number of people buying local food has doubled over the past five years, and coupled with Caroline Spelman’s recent commitment to increasing our country’s food production, I would say it is a good time to be a farmer.

Jones added: “But let’s be clear; we do have massive challenges ahead. We are on the brink of a second green revolution, with food production at its centre, but we can’t just farm and be damned. On one hand we have population growth but on the other global warming; we have a rising demand for energy but depletion in fossil fuels. We see an increasing demand for food across the globe but a scarcity of water and other natural resources with which to produce it. And let’s not forget the constraints of the current economic situation.

“Our belief that government should protect its spend on agriculture R&D to ensure we close the gap from lab bench to field has been well documented. Technologies like GM also need, I believe, to be part of the mix.”