Science for a New Age of Agriculture
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
Speech at Harpers Adams University College, Monday 8 March 2010
I am delighted to be back at Harper Adams so soon after my last visit, and to follow Nick, who has spoken so passionately about the Conservative Party’s commitment to British agriculture and the value of science.
For over a century this site has provided agricultural education and strengthened the link between science and the practice of farming.
You should be proud to belong to a pioneering institution.
• The first to provide courses for women in wartime farm work
• An early champion of the importance of innovation as a solution to the agricultural depression
• And today, constantly trying new ideas and pushing at the perimeters of knowledge
I want to use the next few minutes to talk to you about what I see as the priorities for any future government in this area, as I continue my review into agricultural research and development.
The Importance of Agricultural Science
The application of science has changed the face of agriculture since the days of Thomas Harper Adams over a century ago.
From the horse-drawn plough to satellite guided combine harvesters, genetic improvement, and advanced crop protection products, agriculture has been transformed.
Science has driven the dramatic increases in yields which have helped to avert widespread famine.
The discovery of semi-dwarfing genes and subsequent breeding work in the UK in the 1970s, for example, enabled a doubling of wheat yields during the Green Revolution, and now contributes an estimated £3.4 billion to global wheat production annually.
Food production has kept one step ahead of population growth (although few would argue that supplies could not be more equitably and efficiently distributed).
But with nine billion mouths to feed by 2050, we cannot afford to stand still.
Production and productivity will have to be stepped up again.
But not be at the expense of the environment.
Unlike the Green Revolution, yield increases must come at the same time as natural resources are conserved and greenhouse gas emissions are cut.
This is a monumental challenge, which requires us to unlock the potential of science.
Key research goals will include breeding plants and animals which produce greater yields and improved resistance to pests and diseases; reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ruminant livestock; and increasing the efficiency with which crops use inputs such as water and nitrogen.
Given that nitrogen fertiliser production consumes 1.2% of the world’s total energy on an annual basis, extending the capacity for fixing nitrogen to maize, rice and wheat would bear down heavily on the costs and environmental footprint of world agriculture.
The imperative to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and limit damaging emissions offers opportunities for farmers as well as benefits to the environment.
It wasn’t always like this.
Turn the clock back 25 years and the concern was as much about surplus as it was about shortage.
It is against this backdrop that public expenditure on research and development related to agricultural productivity underwent a period of decline.
Today the UK spends less on agricultural R&D as a proportion of GDP than most of the rest of the EU, and less than Australia, Japan, New Zealand and America.
We have fallen behind in total factor agricultural productivity and lie behind the US, Netherlands, Denmark and Spain.
Whereas in the 1980s the annual trend yield increase for cereals in Europe was about 4% it is now less than 1%.
This decline cannot be ascribed to reaching a yield ceiling: scientists believe the ultimate yield potential for European wheat is at least 19 tonnes per hectare, but in the UK in 2008 it was only 8.2 tonnes.
And that was a record harvest.
Weak productivity gains have been strongly linked to both reduction in R&D investment and the demise of public extension services.
So much so that the NFU believes that a lack of agricultural R&D is now “the biggest supply-side constraint on production”.
I am delighted that Nick has signalled that a Conservative Government would prioritise R&D within the existing departmental budget.
But whoever wins the next election, it is clear that they will not be in a position to write bigger cheques to agriculture.
The resources challenges we face is economic as well as environmental.
So what will be the Conservatives’ approach?
I think it falls under five broad headings.
Encouraging private sector investment
First, given the dire state of the public finances, there is an imperative to broaden the sources of funding for research and development, the benefits of which, after all, stretch right along the supply chain.
We recognise that the ability of individual farms to carry out their own R&D is limited, but there is an enormous range of businesses across the food supply chain and we must encourage those with the capacity to invest more in research and development.
When it comes to collaborative projects with the public sector this should include making the application process more straightforward, cutting unnecessary bureaucracy, and ensuring that intellectual property arrangements encourage businesses to participate and enable the results to reach the widest possible audience.
The Conservatives will shortly be announcing the findings of the technology Task Force led by Sir James Dyson.
It will set out a clear vision for boosting high tech innovation in Britain and look at how we can generate a major expansion of high-tech product development and increase investment in science.
Reinvigorating applied research
Of course it is not only the size of the research budget that is important.
But what the budget is spent on, and what happens to research once it has been carried out.
There is now widespread agreement that the focus of research funding, and the accompanying mechanisms of reward and career opportunity, have tilted the balance of agricultural science towards basic research and away from applied.
As one scientist has put it: “In the UK, a researcher who addresses questions of practical significance to wider society is usually regarded as less able or less worthy of peer recognition.”
We have retained a world-class science base in fundamental areas such as genetics and microbiology.
But there is concern that applied subjects of greatest relevance to farming systems such as agronomy, plant breeding, soil science, entomology, crop and livestock physiology, pathology and weed science have gone through a period of significant attrition and remain vulnerable.
So the second broad heading is the need to reinvigorate applied research.
To ensure that our capacity for world-class pure science is complimented by the right focus on research with specific practical aims.
One element of this is strong leadership: providing clear and consistent signals about the importance of increasing production sustainably, to which the science community and research councils will respond.
We must also work to ensure effective representation from the agricultural and food industries on the panels and committees where decisions are taken on funding and strategy for public sector research.
And we must present the scientific community with the challenge of restoring parity of esteem for applied research.
Translating research into practical benefits
The third key area is the need to ensure that research is translated into practical benefits for our farmers, growers and food businesses.
We do not propose to recreate a public agricultural extension service. We need solutions in a modern context.
But I agree with the Royal Society that systems for extending and translating knowledge into changed practices need to be improved.
As the Government has identified, “research translation is often cited as an area of systemic weakness…what is certainly clear is the benefit of further strengthening and extending partnerships across the communities of research funders, providers and users, to enhance dialogue and collaboration across all stakeholders.”
We need to facilitate the exchange of information between farmers, students and scientists, and including intermediaries such as agronomists, consultants and farm advisers.
To do this I think we must develop plans to:
Create a network of demonstration farms, by inviting commercial farmers to trial and showcase new techniques and technologies to farmers, growers and advisors.
Shift the balance of farm inspection effort away from pure enforcement and towards advice to farmers about what is needed both to comply with regulations and to improve resource efficiency and production.
Encourage innovative online resources like OpenFields, run by Harper Adams, to meet student and practitioner demand for knowledge.
If research is to have any chance of enabling UK farmers to produce more and impact less, effective knowledge exchange is essential.
Economic pressures on government and businesses add an extra impetus to this, in order that the greatest possible value can be extracted from each pound spent on research.
Equipping our farmers and growers with the right skills
Maximising the potential of research and advances in new technology also means our farmers and growers need to acquire even higher levels of skills and knowledge to do their job.
So the fourth area on which we must focus is the need to equip farmers and growers with the skills necessary to meet the challenges – and exploit the opportunities – of the future.
As the industry-led AgriSkills Strategy identifies, modern farming requires technical proficiency, business acumen, and environmental awareness in equal measure.
However, a recent study by Lantra warned that England is experiencing a critical shortage of skilled farmers and growers, which if left unchecked will directly affect our ability to produce enough food for the nation.
We will continue to support the industry-led initiative to ensure that agriculture and horticulture have a workforce capable of delivering increased food production and tackling environmental challenges.
We will reform skills and apprenticeship training, providing assistance to small businesses who may have difficulty meeting the cost of hiring and training apprentices.
We will make funding available for farmers to come together and form Group Training Associations, to ensure their workforce has the skills it needs.
And we will remove bureaucracy and unnecessary inspection audits from FE colleges.
Driving progress across the world
Of course, the need to raise food production against the backdrop of climate change and depleting natural resources is a global challenge.
The fifth key element of a science and skills strategy must be to share solutions with those parts of the world where there is the greatest need to increase food production.
That is why Nick led the call to join New Zealand’s Global Partnership on agricultural research and I am delighted that the UK Government signed up.
We must not only join alliances such as these, but drive them forward to pool expertise, make best use of existing evidence, and pursue promising technologies at the earliest opportunity.
Our productive output of food will only ever make a modest contribution to global food security.
But by applying our capacity for science and technological innovation we can make a major contribution to feeding the nine billion who will be sharing our planet by 2050.
We have not only the capacity but the responsibility to take a leading role in creating scientific solutions to mitigate potential food shortages.
This is a time of real opportunity for both industry and science communities.
The UK has great strengths in its basic research base.
Now is the time for this to be translated into seeds, breeds, technologies, tools and practices that can be used to boost productivity on farms, both here and across the world.
Producing more food and conserving the natural environment are not alternatives.
With the right approach, the ingenuity of our farmers, coupled with science, research and technology transfer, can help us do both.
Thank you.