Advances in plant science vital for economic growth

The UK must safeguard its global leadership in plant science research to help address major challenges of food security and economic growth.

That was the key message delivered by Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Crop Protection Association, on a recent visit to the John Innes Centre in Norwich.

’We cannot afford to be complacent about the food security threat in the UK,’ he said. ’As a nation we are only 55% self-sufficient in food production, yet the population is forecast to increase by some 10 million over the next 20 years. With crop yields flat-lining and food prices rocketing, the UK must take action to optimise its agricultural productivity, through access to the most advanced farming technologies and continued investment in productive agricultural research.’

Mr Dyer praised the efforts of scientists at the John Innes Centre to explain their research and engage proactively with members of the public. Highlighting the findings of recent research conducted for the Crop Protection Association, he said there were clear indications that rising food prices and increased awareness of the global food security threat meant consumers were more willing to embrace science in food production.

But he warned that public funding of research at the UK’s leading plant science institutes must be maintained or key opportunities to improve the productivity, climate resilience and resource-use efficiency of major food crops would be lost, alongside prospects for much-needed economic growth in UK agriculture, food production and technology-based exports.

’Recent reports of cut-backs at leading research centres such as Rothamsted and the John Innes Centre are directly at odds with the Government’s commitment to ring-fence the science budget. A reduction in staff and research activities will compromise the UK’s ability to deliver on the ’sustainable intensification’ of agriculture called for in the recent Royal Society and Foresight reports,’ he said.

Any short-term cuts in research expenditure would prove a false economy, with damaging effects not only for agricultural competitiveness, but also for jobs, growth and wealth creation within the rest of the food supply chain, he warned.

’UK research institutes are at the cutting edge of a rapidly advancing knowledge-base in food and agricultural science. Continued investment in these sectors, including targeted support for translational research to ensure advances in basic science feed through to on-farm innovation, will be a driving force for economic growth and prosperity,’ said Mr Dyer.

’In the UK alone, the plant science sector underpins a food supply chain worth more than ’85 billion and employing over 3.5 million people. But without continued access to new technology and innovation, the UK risks losing out to competition from emerging economies such Brazil, China and India, whose Governments are investing heavily in agricultural research.’