Agri-tech strategy to herald a new ‘green revolution’ for food

21-Jul-2013 - Last updated on 16-Mar-2017 at 21:29 GMT

The Agri-tech Strategy could transform UK food production, according to the Agricultural Development and Horticultural Board

British food manufacturers will be able to draw on food ingredients produced by a high output, environmentally friendly and progressive modern farming industry, thanks to the new “green revolution”, after the launch of an Agri-tech Strategy today (July 22), claimed the government.

The £160M plan aims to bring science and agriculture closer together by investing in new centres for agricultural innovation and an Agri-Tech Catalyst fund to better translate food and farming research into practice.

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) welcomed the plan. It promised to boost productivity and develop new products and techniques to help deliver more sustainable, healthier and affordable food, for the benefit of the UK economy and to meet rising global food demand, it said in a statement.

Andrew Kuyk, the FDF’s sustainability director, said: “Our sector purchases two-thirds of UK agricultural produce. We believe there is real potential for sustainable increases in production here as well as export opportunities for world leading UK products, technologies and services in the future to help meet the wider global challenges of producing more, from less and with less environmental impact.”

Food manufacturing experts

The FDF went on to welcome the inclusion of food manufacturing experts on the strategy’s leadership council. Senior figures from the food and drink manufacturing sector included: Martin Douglas of Cargill and Ian Noble from PepsiCo UK and Ireland.

The plan could lead to a step-change in efficiency, profitability and resilience of UK farm businesses, said the National Farmers Union (NFU).

Peter Kendall, NFU president, said: “We want to see the strategy encourage strong collaborations in research and development across the science community and with industry. The leadership council must proactively engage with the farming industry and have a strong, challenging voice into government.”

But he promised to hold the government to account and urge action when policy and decision-making here and in Europe contradicts the aims of the strategy.

The Agricultural Development and Horticultural Board (ADHB) said the spending could transform British food production.

“The competitiveness and sustainability of our farming sector will be transformed if funding is channelled into industry-relevant research that is capable of being rapidly translated into on-farm innovation,” said AHDB chief executive Tom Taylor.

‘World leader in agricultural technology’

The strategy showed the government had real ambition for the UK to be “a world leader in agricultural technology, innovation and sustainability”.

The levy board also welcomed the inclusion of industry research priorities identified by primary producers in the Feeding the Future report launched last month. The report was commissioned by a group including: The AHDB, NFU, NFU Scotland, the Royal Agricultural Society of England, the Agricultural Industries Confederation and supported by the Technology Strategy Board.

George Freeman, Tory MP, chairman of the All Party Group on Agricultural Science and the government’s adviser on Life Science and strategy coordinator, complained that for too long successive governments had increasingly treated UK farming not as a key industry but as landscape managers.

“The UK has the potential to become a world class cluster of agri-tech, as we have in biomedical science: a world class hub of research, innovation, high growth companies and exciting new career opportunities,” said Freeman.

“The home of the original agricultural revolution, the UK is again leading the world in the agricultural innovation behind a new green revolution in modern farming. This is a huge opportunity for the UK food and farming industry to export again our leadership in agricultural innovation to help feed the world.”

Agri-tech strategy in quotes:

Professor Ian Crute, AHDB chief scientist and member of the Agri-Tech Leadership Council: “Identifying where government and industry should come together to fund research and innovation will be hugely important and central to enabling the sustainable intensification of UK agriculture – this is something I very much relish helping to promote as the route to greater productivity with positive environmental benefits.”

George Freeman, MP: “The UK, with its world-renowned research bases in England, Scotland and Wales and world class food, farming, engineering and IT sectors has the potential to pioneer the new technologies driving low carbon, low impact, low chemical and high output ‘progressive’ modern farming.”

Peter Kendall, NFU: “We will hold government to account and urge action when policy and decision-making here and in Europe contradicts the aims of the strategy. We want to see the strategy encourage strong collaborations in R&D across the science community and with industry. The Leadership Council must proactively engage with the farming industry and have a strong, challenging voice into government.”