Europe is “sleep walking” into becoming dependent on Russian fertiliser, just as it did with gas, says one of the largest producers of crop nutrients.

Nitrogen fertilisers, which are important to plant growth, are made using natural gas and Russia is exporting more of it to Europe, replacing some of the gas banned by the EU, said Svein Tore Holsether, chief executive of Yara International, one of the world’s largest producers of nitrogen-based mineral fertilisers.

“Fertiliser is the new gas,” Holsether said. “It is a paradox that the aim is to reduce Europe’s dependency on Russia, and then now we are sleepwalking into handing over critical food and fertilising power to Russia.”

Scientists are trying to create a new type of bread that is just as healthy as wholemeal but looks and tastes like its white counterpart.

Aimed at lovers of white bread, the project has been funded by the government to improve the health benefits of UK food.

The researchers plan to add small amounts of peas, beans and cereals to the bread mix, as well as bran and wheat germ that are normally removed from white flour.

Conservation actions are effective at reducing global biodiversity loss, according to a major study.

International researchers spent 10 years looking at measures, from hatching Chinook salmon to eradication of invasive algae.

The authors said their findings offered a "ray of light" for those working to protect threatened animals and plants.

Months of relentless rain has moved food security right up the political agenda and put farmers in a stronger position with policymakers, according to former Climate Change Committee chairman and past Defra secretary Lord Deben.

Addressing the recent Future of Farming conference at Plumpton College in East Sussex, he said one of the few certainties in farming was that winters were going to get wetter and summers hotter – which both had implications for food production.

“The consequence is that there is going to be a greater pressure on food production that we have ever seen in our lifetimes,” he said. “The truth of the matter is that food security is absolutely central.”

Agri-tech is set to accelerate innovation and growth in the UK's agriculture and food industries, as over half of UK food industry businesses (51%) say adopting new technologies is a key business priority as they look ahead to the next five years, while one in four (25%) agriculture business leaders say it's a top priority. Nearly half of decision-makers in the combined agri-food industries (48%) say there are stages in their supply chain where innovation or investment are lacking.

The findings are from the new Future of Agri-Tech Report that surveyed 200 R&D and technology decision-makers in the agriculture and food industries to mark the launch of the new UK Agri-Tech Centre, the UK's largest dedicated agri-tech organisation. The UK Agri-Tech Centre commissioned the research to better comprehend agri-food businesses' priorities in order to inform its strategy to drive agri-innovation at unprecedented levels.

Buyers in the UK are increasingly turning to vegetable imports following a tough year of weather for domestic growers. Jack Ward, chief executive of the British Growers Association (BGA), told Farmers Weekly the past few months of rain on top of last year’s difficult spring and wet summer had “set the tone” for supply.

Crops such as cauliflowers, cabbages and carrots have begun to run out sooner than they usually would, and the wait for new season crops to come in is expected to be longer because the wet weather is holding back planting.

Mr Ward said growers needed a “statement of intent” from the government to show it believed the fresh produce sector was important, noting that there was a need for more support with capital investment, research and development, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and a multi-year seasonal labour scheme.

The development of controlled environment agriculture and vertical farming technologies needs to accelerate to help boost UK food security, researchers say.

Scientists at Aberystwyth University have started a new project to research vertical farming, the process of producing food by growing it in stacked layers within controlled indoor environments.

This method helps farmers to produce more on the same amount of land and reduce the environmental impact, and to avoid the future challenge presented by extreme weather events.

A London-based agri-tech company has been awarded £1.5m by the UK Space Agency to fund a project to develop an in-orbit space farm.

The agency, sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, has allocated grant funding to 11 projects across the UK, including the space farm.

Developed by Vertical Future, a vertical farming and technology manufacturer, the project will adapt its existing controlled-environment agriculture systems into a prototype for low-Earth orbit.

New modelling shows reduced yields of some crops if widely used herbicide is withdrawn, with alternative approaches to weed control offering mixed outcomes.

A ban on glyphosate could lead to an increase in weed abundance and a decrease in the yields of some crops, according to a new modelling study.

Although the environmental risks associated with this herbicide would be eased, alternative approaches to weed control had mixed outcomes for the environment, food production and profitability, although some show potential benefits.

Yield10 Bioscience - an agricultural biotechnology company - has announced that approval has been granted by the United States Department of Agriculture Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) for the growing and breeding of Yield10’s Camelina sativa varieties, developed using genetic engineering to produce omega-3 fatty acids.

Due to historical and continued overexploitation of wild fish populations, traditional fish oil sources are creating gaps in supply and driving the growing demand for new sources of omega-3. By utilising Camelina as a land-based production platform, Yield10 aims to provide a new, reliable supply for omega-3 fatty acids, which can supply the aquaculture industry, and other consumers, whilst reducing their environmental impact.

“This regulatory milestone represents a critical step for enabling the ramp-up of Camelina planting to commercial scale in the US for producing omega-3 oil for key markets including aquafeed and human nutrition,” said Dr Kristi Snell, chief science officer of Yield10 Bioscience, in a press release announcing the progress.