The UK’s leading organic growing charity, Garden Organic, has welcomed the findings of a significant report from the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE), published last week, which highlighted the threats posed to the health of UK soil, and future food security.
The RASE report concluded that a fundamental lack of investment for research into sustainable agricultural techniques is a real danger to the future of the UK’s soil and food production systems.
Myles Bremner, chief executive of Garden Organic said: “Garden Organic has been researching and promoting organic growing methods for more than 50 years now and could not agree more with the findings of this report.
“Our future is in the soil and we must invest in sustainable techniques in order to protect food production in years to come. This means adopting organic methods in both agricultural and domestic settings in order to nourish and protect soil health and investing further research into these techniques.
“Garden Organic believes, based on thorough and ongoing research into soil health, fertility and structure, that organic agricultural and horticultural systems are viable, productive, practical and profitable alternatives to using industrial agriculture methods, and can help to address food security, climate change and soil protection.
“Greater recognition of the role that organic agriculture plays in protecting the soil is also needed in order to reverse damage and prevent further degradation, and we hope that the release of this report will ensure further investment into UK soil research, including organic practices,” he added.
