Farmers could benefit from big data to help them reduce the environmental impact of fertilisers while maintaining quality yields and profits of wheat, according to new research.

The LINKDAPA project (LINKing multi-source Data for Adoption of Precision Agriculture) provides arable farmers with a low-cost, simple way to use big data to help highlight areas of their fields that are likely to give higher yields and grain protein content.

EIT Food, the world’s largest and most dynamic food innovation community, is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Now in its second year, the partnership sees the University of Reading working with other European academic institutions and agriculture firms.

The EU is falling behind in crop improvement because of its outdated policies on gene editing, say crop scientists. Japan, Canada, the US and now the UK all allow some gene editing of crops, but the EU remains lumbered by legislation written two decades ago. Gene editing allows the DNA of crops to be tweaked to boost sustainability.

It could generate crops less thirsty for pesticide and fertiliser inputs, as well as prepare crops for a future of increasing heat and drought stresses due to climate change. Also, pests and diseases are on the move, due to climate change, at a time when we are trying to reduce pesticide use.

The potential of gene editing is not a fringe viewpoint. “It is a breakthrough technology with huge potential,” says Dr Ismahane Elouafi, the chief scientist of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). “As a scientist, I don’t see it in the same category as GMOs [genetically modified organisms].” She would like to convince the EU to change its views, and she sees gene editing as crucial for improving food security and reducing global hunger.

Scientific leaders have urged the government not to abandon talks to enable the UK to participate in a €100bn European research programme. They have told BBC News that being cut out of EU research would "greatly disadvantage" British science.

Agreement in principle was reached, but UK involvement is now a bargaining chip in talks over Northern Ireland. In response the Science Minister, George Freeman, has said the UK is ready to set up its own scheme.

Scotland's food security could be 'eroded' if tighter tree planting safeguards on productive farmland are not implemented, NFU Scotland has warned.

While the union remains supportive of the integration of woodlands into farm businesses, it is 'fundamentally opposed' to largescale forestry expansion on productive farmland.

Such growth in recent times has been fuelled by non-agricultural businesses purchasing land for planting to offset carbon emissions and boost their green credentials. At the same time, this is eroding Scotland’s capacity to improve its self-sufficiency in food, NFU Scotland warned.

Climate change, access to labour and an increasing number of cyber attacks were among the possible threats to the UK’s food security listed in a new Government review.

The first Food Security Report, which Ministers are legally obliged to carry out once every three years under the terms of the Agriculture Act, also listed animal and plant diseases, soil degradation, rising input prices and the UK agricultural sector’s reliance on energy as possible future risks.

On a global scale, threats to food security included intensification of production which threatens biodiversity; high concentration of commodities in a few countries, such as soybeans in Brazil or rice in India and increasing demand for water.

Exports of UK food have continued to see a significant and persistent drop, new figures show, largely due to new barriers of trade with the EU and the pandemic.

Exports of food and drink are down £2.7bn (-15.9%) in the first three quarters of 2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels, Food and Drink Federation (FDF) figures show.

This substantial drop is largely due to a decline in sales to the European Union, accounting for a £2.4 billion (-23.7%) loss.

Small businesses and the agri-food sector have been hardest hit by changes to trade following the implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) nearly a year ago, peers warn.

In a report published on Thursday, the Lords European Affairs Committee calls for the government to do more to support SMEs, including reinstating funding to help them access professional support.

Since the agreement of the TCA and the end of the transition period, businesses trading goods between GB and the EU have faced challenges because of new administrative burdens.

An autonomous robot which reduces powdery mildew through light treatment achieved complete control of the pathogen during this growing season. 'Thorvald' delivered UV-C treatment to protect strawberry plants on over 10 hectares of land at Clock House Farm and Hugh Lowe Farm, both in Kent.

The robot performs light treatment to control mildew on strawberries and vines, drastically reducing the need for fungicides. During March to October, the farms did not spray their crops with any powdery-mildew-targeting chemical control agent, with Thorvald's team calling this a 'world-first'.

The autonomous robot was developed by Saga Robotics and has been on trial in the UK since 2019.

Genetically-modified (GM) purple tomatoes with high levels of health-giving antioxidants - developed by Norwich scientists - could be available in the USA from next spring. Prof Cathie Martin and her team at the John Innes Centre has been researching tomatoes since 2008 as part of a long-term project to improve human health and diets.

She told members of Stalham Farmers’ Club that several GM purple tomato varieties were in the final stages of lengthy and exhaustive regulatory reviews in the United States. If approved, it was possible that seeds of the purple tomato varieties might be available to gardeners and growers in the American market from the early spring, she said.

The UK's chief veterinary officer has told the BBC there is a "phenomenal level" of avian flu in the UK. Tens of thousands of farmed birds have already been culled, as the" largest number of premises ever" in an avian influenza outbreak are infected. Officials say the risk to human health is low - there is no link to the Covid-19 pandemic - but infected birds should not be touched.

"It has huge human, animal, and trade implications," the chief vet said. Lessons learned from the foot-and-mouth outbreak are being used to try to control the outbreak, Dr Christine Middlemiss added.