Transcript Defra Farming and Food Research Update

Defra’s Research in Sustainable
Agriculture
Dr Sue Popple
Vision for farming 2020
A profitable and competitive farming industry, that
takes on the challenge of climate change and is a
positive net contributor to the environment.
As an industry it should:
• be profitable in the marketplace, continuing to
produce the majority of the food we consume
• make a positive net environmental contribution,
notably in respect of climate change, but also
more widely
• manage the landscape and the natural assets
that underlie it
Defra’s sustainable agriculture
research programmes
1. Agriculture and Climate Change
2. Water Quality and Use
3. Food Chain Meeting Consumer
Needs
4. Sustainable Farming Systems and
Biodiversity
5. Plant Health
Agriculture and Climate Change
• Inventories of emissions of pollution
gases from agriculture to air
• Mitigation of nitrogen and carbon
emissions
• Climate change and adaptation in
agriculture
• Energy in agriculture and food
• Bioenergy
• Renewable Materials
• Current research includes,
• Biogas production in the UK
• Vulnerability to extreme events
• Life Cycle Analysis of options for
bioenergy production
• Calculating GHG emissions from
agriculture
Water Quality and Water Use
• Minimising the
adverse impacts of
UK agriculture on
water quality
• Optimising water use
by UK agriculture
and food production
industries
• Current research includes,
• Farm based filters for air and water
• Cost curves for multiple diffuse
pollutants
• Tools for influencing behaviour of
farmers and land mangers
Food Chain Meeting Consumer Needs
• Efficient food
manufacturing and
distribution
• Waste reduction and
recycling in the food
chain
• Quality foods meeting
the consumer needs
• Current research includes,
• Pathogenic fungi in cereal crops
• Exploiting brewing co-products
• Resilience of businesses in the
food chain
Sustainable Farming Systems and
Biodiversity
• Organic Farming
• Integrated farming systems – a more
holistic approach
• Current research includes,
• Field-scale impacts on biodiversity from
New Crops
• Managing uncropped land to enhance
biodiversity
• Developing a fertiliser recommendation
system
Plant Health
• Exclusion of
quarantine pests and
diseases
• Eradication and
containment of plant
pests and diseases
• Trade facilitation
• Development of
optimum policy
• Current research includes,
• Novel diagnostic techniques for the detection
of pests and diseases
• Detection and monitoring of quarantine
whitefly transmitted viruses in protected
vegetable crops
• Management of plant health risks associated
with processing of plant-based wastes
The future - Generic changes in our needs
Increasing need for:
• Social and opinion research
• Multi-disciplinary (natural + social) analysis and
assessment
• Evaluation of issues and solutions
• Interpretation and advice from research providers
• Collaboration
The Strategy Arrow
Established in letter to the PM
For
example…
Energy
Emergency
preparedness –
animal diseases,
floods
Animal health and
welfare
Water availability and quality
Waste (re-use, recycling,
composting, energy from
waste)
Avoiding dangerous
climate change
Food and farming
Maintaining &
enhancing the
natural asset base
ONE
PLANET
LIVING
Land use
Mission
Marine environment
High Level Goals
CAP
administration
High Impact Policies
Licence to Operate