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Science & Technology News
GM potato cleared for EU farming
The European Commission has cleared the way for a genetically modified potato to be grown in the EU - only the second GM product it has allowed.
The Amflora potato can be utilised for animal feed and industrial uses - such as its starch being used to make paper - but not for human consumption. More
BBC News, 2 March 2010
Future of Wellesbourne to be considered by stakeholders
Options for the future of Wellesbourne research station will be tabled during a stakeholder discussion at the University of Warwick next week.
Although the university's senate approved draft proposals for Warwick HRI Wellesbourne to be absorbed into a new School of Life Sciences last year, a new paper exploring an industry partnership will be presented at the meeting on 2 March.
The business plan is being finalised by a group of scientists at Warwick HRI in collaboration with Brian Jamieson, author of A Review of the Provision of Horticultural R&D. More
Farm Business, 25 February 2010
Study finds conditions tough for agrochemical innovation
A new study of Research and Development in the crop protection sector shows that, in a decade, the costs associated with the discovery, development and registration of new crop pest and disease agents have increased by 68.4 per cent to €189m.
The research, conducted by agribusiness consultant Phillips McDougall and commissioned by Crop Life America and the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA), sheds new light on the costs of agrochemical innovation encountered by major R&D driven companies. More
Farm Business, 25 February 2010
Innovation key to agriculture’s future says Environment Agency chief
GM crops and new technologies to support ‘precision farming’ could both have a role to play in helping the UK cope with climate change, Environment Agency Chairman Lord Smith says in his speech to the NFU conference today.
Lord Smith tells farmers that climate change “will create new demands on land and environmental resources” and “could provide opportunities for novel crops and systems.” More
Farm Business, 24 February 2010
Global GM plantings rise
PLANTINGS of GM crops rose by seven per cent last year, as farmers around the world continued to turn to technology to boost crop yields.
According to new figures released today by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), 14 million farmers in 25 countries are now growing 134 million hectares of GM crops around the world. More
Farmers Guardian, 24 February 2010
Biofuel breakthrough on non-food crops
MOTORISTS could soon be running their cars on affordable ethanol produced from wheat straw or woodchips after a biofuel breakthrough.
Current methods of converting agricultural by-products into ethanol are too expensive to consider at a commercial level, while biofuels produced from food crops have been blamed for pushing up commodity prices and leaving the world’s poorest people short of food. But a Danish biotechnology company, Novozymes, says it has cultivated a new enzyme that could convert maize, wheat, straw and woodchips into ethanol for as little as 32 pence per litre. More
Farmers Guardian, 23 February 2010
BCPC calls for multi-pronged approach to the ‘Crop Protection Crunch’
The British Crop Production Council has warned that the EU Pesticide legislation (EC 1107/2009) will seriously affect the industry and that a coordinated approach will be needed to address the challenges.
The Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (2009/127/EC) and the Water Framework Directive will create an additional burden.
“We must get the message out about the negative impact that all this legislation will have on the production of good quality, nutritional food, at affordable prices – a ‘Crop Protection Crunch’,” says Dr Colin Ruscoe, Chairman of BCPC.
“We need to inform the whole of the food chain from producers to retailers and the general public, as well as finding ways to help food producers deal with the impact. And if we are going to make further attempts at regulatory reform, both in the UK and EU, continued lobbying of government will be crucial.” More
Farm Business, 18 February 2010
Dairy industry sets out demands for MPs
The next government needs to combat bovine tuberculosis as a priority if the future of the dairy industry is to be secured. Dairy UK said farmer confidence and milk output needed to be improved by urgently tackling TB in cattle.
Setting out a blueprint of what the industry needs if it is to prosper, Dairy UK said government also needed to increase research and development to increase productivity and secure food supplies. More
Farmers Weekly, Wednesday 17 February 2010
Defra considers GM potato trial
THE Government is considering an application from British scientists to plant GM potatoes in a field trial in Norwich.
Scientists in the Sainsbury’s Laboratory at the John Innes Centre hope to get approval from Defra in order to start their three-year trial in May.
The researchers aim to genetically modify a potato resistant to blight – a disease estimated to cost the global potato industry £3.5 billion every year. Blight resistance would also save farmers from spraying fungicide on the potatoes, the scientists said. More
Farmers Guardian, 17 February 2010
£15M scheme to train hundreds in vital food security R&D
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is committing up to £15M to establish training for food security research and development.
The Advanced Training Partnerships scheme is announced at the same time as the launch of the new industry-led AgriSkills Strategy, which is being launched by Lantra (the sector skills council for environmental and land- based industries) and NFU with support from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The AgriSkills Strategy aims to ensure the UK can equip itself with the right skills to enable a profitable and sustainable agricultural industry for the future and is complementary to the new BBSRC scheme. More
Farm Business, 11 February 2010
Biofuel breakthrough as scientists sequence grass genome
SCIENTISTS in the US have completed sequencing the genome of a wild grass which they claim will shed light on the genetics behind hardier varieties of wheat and improved varieties of biofuel crops.
The grass - Brachypodium distachyon - can be used by plant scientists as a model organism similar to key agricultural crops, including wheat and barley. The genome is also similar to the potential bioenergy crop switchgrass, allowing researchers to identify genes linked to specific traits and apply the knowledge to the development of biofuel crops. More
Farmers Guardian, 11 February 2010
Culling badgers ‘not a cost-effective way to stop TB'
Culling badgers is unlikely to be a cost-effective way of combating TB in cattle, according to latest research into controlling the disease.
A study published by scientists from Imperial College London and the Zoological Society of London says that, while widespread badger culls initially cut the incidence of bovine TB, any benefits disappear within four years of the cull being carried out. The financial costs of administering trapping and killing badgers also means any savings made in cutting herd infections are cancelled out, the study says. More
Farmers Weekly, 10 February 2010
Climate change could bring new disease threat
GREATER vigilance is needed as climate change alters the seasonality of endemic infections and the likely appearance of formerly unseen parasites, warned vet scientists at a North West Livestock Health and Welfare Conference held at Liverpool University’s vet school.
Jan van Dijk said work he was involved in at the vet school to monitor temperature and rainfall changes showed disease patterns had already begun to alter. Data already suggests fluke has risen significantly in recent years, although this masks regional variations as parasites react and adapt to changes in localised weather conditions, he said. More
Farmers Guardian, 9 February 2010
Defra seeks views on new EU pesticides rules
A consultation on how to implement new European rules on pesticides was launched today, and seeks people’s views on how to ensure the continued sustainable use of pesticides.
The consultation is seeking views on how to implement the European Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, which covers areas including the training of pesticide users, inspection of spraying equipment and minimising the risk of pollution from pesticides. The consultation also puts forward options on access to information about pesticides used near homes, and how people could be given the option to obtain this information. More
Farm Business, 9 February 2010
Britain facing food crisis as world's soil 'vanishes in 60 years'
British farming soil could run out within 60 years, leading to a catastrophic food crisis and drastically higher prices for consumers, scientists warn.
Fertile soil is being lost faster than it can be replenished and will eventually lead to the “topsoil bank” becoming empty, an Australian conference heard. Chronic soil mismanagement and over farming causing erosion, climate change and increasing populations were to blame for the dramatic global decline in suitable farming soil, scientists said. More
Daily Telegraph, 3 February 2010
Food security central to £2 billion bioscience plan
THE Government will pump more than £2 billion of taxpayers’ money into biological research as part of a new strategy to meet global challenges such as food security and fossil fuel depletion. The Government-funded Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), has drawn up a strategic plan to spend its annual £450 million budget over the next five years. Food security will be one of three key priorities for the money, alongside health and renewable energy. More
Farmers Guardian, 2 February 2010
Scientists create GM tomatoes 'which stay fresh for a month longer than usual'
Scientists have created genetically modified tomatoes which stay fresh for a month longer than usual. The fruits remained firm for 45 days, three times as long as normal tomatoes which start to wilt after just 15 days, researchers said.
The team believe that the breakthrough could also lead to an extended shelf life for other fruits, including bananas, and see the cost of their production tumble. They lengthened the life of the tomatoes by “turning off” genes linked to the production of two enzymes which cause the fruit to start to ripen. More
Daily Telegraph, 2 February 2010
Food science: Rewards of precision farming
The technological battle to raise agricultural productivity while reducing the environmental impact of farming is taking place across a broad front. Genetic engineering of crops receives the most publicity, as much because it is so controversial as because it has the most to offer, but there are many other promising approaches.
Precision farming – the use of information technology to monitor crops and guide the application of seeds and agricultural chemicals – is turning individual farmers into expert agronomists. More
Financial Times, 26 January 2010
Lack of GMOs costs lives, claims leading scientist
Many human lives have been lost due to the reluctance of some countries to accept genetically modified crops, former government chief scientific adviser, Sir David King has claimed.
Addressing the annual City Food Lecture in London's Guildhall this week, Sir David cited the example of flood-resistant rice which had taken over five years to develop using conventional breeding techniques and genetic markers, when it could have been done in two using GM technology. The drop in rice production in 2007, due to flooding just after planting, was a major factor behind the price hike in 2008 that led to food riots and starvation in some parts of the world, he said. More
Farmers Weekly, 20 January 2010
Farm emissions 'far higher than thought'
Livestock farming accounts more than half of all agricultural greenhouse emissions, according to a new report. The study, by WWF-UK and the Food Climate Research Network, estimates the food we eat accounts for 30% of the UK's carbon footprint. Previous estimates put the figure closer to 20%, but this latest study is the first to incorporate the impact of land use changes overseas. More
Farmers Weekly, 18 January 2010
Plant could save millions from malaria
Scientists from the University of York have confidently predicted they will have high-yielding anti-malaria crops available for wide spread plantation in developing countries within two years. The discovery of the genetic map of the medicinal herb Artemisia annua has been hailed as a significant breakthrough that could save countless lives. More
Daily Telegraph, 15 January 2010
GM crops to be planted in Britain again this year
A new wave of genetically modified (GM) crops are to be planted in the British countryside this year as the Government increases its support for the technology. Leeds University, where a successful trial was carried out last year, is to apply for a licence for a new field trial of GM potatoes.
Meanwhile the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) want to plant GM crops on a demonstration farm as part of a new drive to boost public understanding of the latest developments in plant breeding. More
Daily Telegraph, 11 January 2010
McDonald’s seeks to cut cows’ methane emissions
McDonalds has long been the butt of jokes about what goes into its burgers, but now it is to spend thousands of pounds investigating what comes out of its beef cows.
The fast food chain, which uses beef from 350,000 cattle a year for its burger meat, is to conduct a three-year study into methane emissions from cattle on 350 farms across Britain. More
The Observer, 10 January 2010
'Climate change resistant crops' move nearer after gene breakthrough
In a breakthrough that has the potential to help feed billions of people, scientists from the John Innes Centre in Norwich have found the "thermometer gene" which plants use to sense temperature.
Laboratory tests on a mustard seed plant showed that the gene that plants use in order to know when to grow in the warmer months can be manipulated by taking away a histone protein. More
Daily Telegraph, 8 January 2010
UK research 'not good enough'
EXPERTS from across the food chain have valued agricultural research in the UK at a lowly five out of ten, delegates were shocked to learn at the Oxford Farming Conference this week.
In a survey carried out by the IGD, a select group of retailers, processors and wholesalers warned a failure to improve research would cause a rise in food prices, a rise in imports and an erosion of the UK’s competitive advantage. More
Farmers Guardian, 7 January 2010
Business as usual won't feed the world
A "business as usual" approach to increasing food production would be useless against the challenge of feeding a growing world population.
John Parker, globalisation correspondent for The Economist, told delegates that agriculture needed to achieve the kind of technological breakthroughs in plant breeding and livestock development last seen in the 1960s and 70s.
"The UN predicts a world population of around 9bn by 2050 - that's about 30% more people to feed. And for a 30% population increase, world wheat yields will need to increase by the same amount over the next 20 years." More
Farmers Weekly, 6 January 2010
Government science strategy launched
The Government’s chief scientific adviser has launched a new science strategy designed to help improve the security and sustainability of the UK’s food system. The strategy, launched by Professor John Beddington at the Oxford Farming Conference today (Wednesday, January 6), will aim to ensure research into various elements of food production is better co-ordinated across the scientific community.
The strategy is intended to feed into the new Government food strategy, Food 2030, launched by Defra Secretary Hilary Benn on Tuesday (January 5). The Food and Innovation Research Strategy provides an overarching framework across the UK Government and Devolved Administrations. More
Farmers Guardian, 6 January 2010
Investment in research vital
Britain's farming industry will be seriously threatened and the government's Food 2030 strategy risks being undermined without better investment in agricultural science.
Crop protection was cited as the most important past advancement by 29% of farmers who put it top of a list compiled during research specially commissioned by the Oxford Farming Conference.
It was followed by plant breeding and machinery. Plant breeding scored 18% as the most important future development with GM technology scoring 15%. But one in four farmers remains unsure what scientific advancements are needed. More
Farmers Weekly, 6 January 2010
Consumers can help secure Britain’s food future
Ensuring food security is just as important to Britain’s future as energy supply, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Hilary Benn told delegates at the Oxford Farming Conference today as he unveiled the Government’s food strategy, Food 2030.
Farming and food businesses contribute more than £80 billion to the economy and represent the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, employing 3.6 million people.
The Food Strategy sets out the challenges facing Britain in maintaining a secure food supply at a time of rapid population growth and climate change, and following the big price increases seen in 2008 following droughts and the rise in the price of oil. More
Defra News Release, 5 January 2010
UK Cross-Government Strategy for Food Research and Innovation
A new science strategy to help improve the security and sustainability of our food system has been launched today by the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser Professor John Beddington.
The UK Cross-Government Strategy for Food Research and Innovation aims to provide the evidence to support effective, joined-up policies, and ensure the development and dissemination of new knowledge, technologies and skills.
The UK has a world leading science base which can contribute significantly to the new Government food strategy, Food 2030, which sets out a clear vision for achieving a sustainable and secure food system. More
BIS News Release, 5 January 2010