The government has been told by a cross-party group of MPs to commit to a 'sea change' in its attitude towards food security. The new report, by EFRA Committee, pointed out that only a little over a half (54%) of the food eaten in the UK is home-grown or home reared.

It said shocks to international trade such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Brexit had exposed some of the UK’s vulnerabilities. MPs who sit on the Committee urged the government to develop a suite of key food security indicators – from farm inputs to retailer outputs – to monitor and ensure food security.

A government failure to step in and protect the domestic production of nitrogen fertiliser and ammonia poses a major food security risk, MPs have warned.

Nitrogen fertiliser is used by UK farmers on 89% of crop area for tillage crops such as wheat, barley, potatoes and sugar beet and 59% of grass, but there is only one producer in the country – US-owned CF Fertilisers.

This company, which recently announced it would permanently close its Billingham site for producing ammonia, used to make fertiliser, only meets about 40% of UK need.

A new research project aims to explore the potential for domestic production and pump-prime the UK’s first chickpea breeding programme.

The two-year study 'Cicero' has been awarded £500,000 to crop science organisation NIAB, with it focusing on the cool-season legume, chickpea (Cicer arietinum).

In common with other nitrogen-fixing legumes, the crop has the potential to reduce on-farm fertiliser requirements and emissions associated with fertiliser production and application.

A new approach to growing algae in Scotland could offer a sustainable boost for the aquaculture and agriculture sectors, by providing locally sourced, alternative protein sources and ingredients for feeds.

Experts in animal nutrition from Biosimetrics and Abrimar, both based in Edinburgh, are working alongside researchers at the Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS) to explore the optimum conditions required for growing algae as a novel feed ingredient. Funded by the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), the results of the project could help to unlock new Scottish supply chains for natural and sustainable feeds.

Previous studies have demonstrated the potential of algae as a high-quality, nutritious alternative to imported soy and fishmeal protein, however, the cost and complexity of scaling up to mass production has meant the process has not yet been developed further. For this project, species were specifically selected for their commercial viability, to minimise potential waste and maximise value.

Scientists are using automated sensors and AI over the next four years to demonstrate the effectiveness of on-farm environment and peatland restoration schemes.

The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) will be deploying solar-powered biodiversity monitoring stations comprising camera ‘traps’ and acoustic recording equipment at farms to monitor wildlife.

There will be stations at farms that are undertaking practices to reduce emissions, increase carbon capture and support wildlife, such as agroforestry and wildflower hay meadows. Stations will be placed in areas of the farm that do, and do not, have agri-environment measures, and will be used to measure the impacts of these schemes on species populations.

Insect meal for feed and fertiliser, methane inhibitors, genetic innovation and vertical farming are just some of the innovations that can help deliver Net Zero in UK agriculture, according to a new inquiry report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture.

Identifying eight key areas of innovation with the potential to transform UK agriculture’s climate impact, the report also highlights a number of potential and actual barriers to these innovations reaching Britain’s farmers, and makes recommendations for Government to remove these barriers, covering regulatory, policy and R&D actions.

Daffodils could provide the key to more sustainable livestock farming, according to scientists who say lab tests have proven promising. Adding an extract from the flowers to livestock feed reduced methane in artificial cow stomachs by 96%.

A team of researchers at Scotland's Rural College hope that when trialled in real cows, it could reduce methane emissions by at least 30%. A four-year programme of trials is now beginning at farms around the UK.

It is grown in some of the world’s most inhospitable, arid regions and is noted for being rich in protein. But the grass pea – although hardy and nutritious – comes with a catch. It contains a poison that can occasionally trigger irreversible paralysis, particularly among individuals who are already undernourished.

As a result, it is often grown only as an insurance crop, to provide short-term food supply when harvests of other crops have failed. Nevertheless, poisoning from Lathyrus sativus still occurs in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Ethiopia and Algeria.

But now a group of UK scientists studying the grass pea have revealed the secrets of its poison production. In the near future they expect to create versions that are free of its toxic side-effects.

UK and EU negotiators have agreed a draft deal on Britain’s re-entry into the Horizon Europe research program after months of hard-fought talks.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be presented with the draft deal by officials this weekend ahead of a crunch meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen next Tuesday where the final agreement may be confirmed, two UK government officials — granted anonymity to speak about sensitive discussions — said.

One of the officials said Britain will re-join Horizon Europe, which has a €95.5 billion budget for the period 2021-27, and the Copernicus Earth observation program — but not Euratom’s nuclear energy R&D scheme, which both the British government and the UK nuclear sector consider “poor value for money,” the official said.

A new project has received Defra funding to explore how livestock waste and insect farming can generate clean energy, whilst providing commercial opportunities for farmers.

The ‘DELIVER’ project, led by BACB Renewables and the University of Leeds, aims to support farmers to raise animals and crops at reduced carbon and energy costs, while boosting productivity.

The study is one of 50 projects which has secured funding from Defra and UKRI as part of the Farming Innovation Programme.