British agriculture has earned its position of strategic importance with government and is in need of significant funding for its related research, according to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).
NFU president Peter Kendall stated the view ahead of his address at the launch of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s (BBSRC) Global Research Programme in London today.
Kendall will be joined by Professor Douglas Kell, chief executive of the BBSRC; Professor Alan Thorpe, chairman of Research Councils UK executive group; DEFRA minister Lord Davies and government chief scientific adviser Professor John Beddington for the launch, which aims to address the challenges of producing more food while using less energy, water, inputs and waste and protecting the environment.
Kendall spearheaded the NFU’s calls for a reversal in the underspend facing agriculture research and development during the NFU’s Why Science Matters for Farming campaign.
Kendall said: “UK farmers are very well placed to provide solutions to the issue of food security, globally as well as closer to home. However, we can only deliver if the right research is funded and sustained long-term and then translated into practice in the field.
“The tone at the NFU conference this year was one of positive recognition that farming matters; now there is a need to focus on how farming can deliver and science is a key part of this. We need research and technology to help farmers and growers increase food production while impacting less on the environment and we need to have a government that legislates to support the important, strategic role that agriculture now holds.
“This Global Food Security Research Programme will enable our science community to step up to the research challenges ahead and work with farmers and growers on this critical issue.”
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