Farming Technologies – Challenges and Opportunities

Sir Mark WalportChief Scientific Adviser to HM Government

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• Knowledge translated to economic advantage

• Infrastructure resilience

• Underpinning policy with evidence

• Science for emergencies

• Advocacy and leadership for science

Government Chief Scientific Adviser

Credit: iStockphoto

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This is what I do

Pesticide risks and resistance Demographic change Animal Health

Faced with challenges, my role is to:-

•Draw in experts

•Encourage cross-silo thinking

•Make connections between different areas of science

•Question existing ideas

Climate change

Credit: Thoursie, sxc.hu

Credit: Josh Landis, NSFCredit: iStockphoto

Credit: iStockphoto

Science in Emergencies - Ashes to Ashes

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Credit: @dyntr (CC-BY-ND-2.0) Credit: V. Queloz, ETH Zurich

Resilience – Flooding on the Somerset Levels

COBRMeetings

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Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

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Immediate Challenges to UK Farming

• Public confidence in food supply

• Spread of Bovine TB

• Withdrawal of pesticides

??Credit: iStockphoto Credit: iStockphoto Credit: iStockphoto

Granitic rock

PhotosynthesisSea-spray

Fertiliser

Meteorological variation

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Food Provenance – Geographical Origin Isotope Approach

Confirm Authenticity

2H

15N

13C34S

87Sr

Geological variation

Metabolism

Spread of Bovine TB

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Distinguishing Risk and Hazard - Pesticides

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Credit: S_E, ShutterstockCredit: iStockphoto

Future Challenges to UK Farming

• Land and Population

• Price Volatility

• Climate

• Balancing Biodiversity, Ecosystems & Food Production

• The UK and European Competitive Environment

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Land and Population - Future supply and demand

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Credit: vauvau (CC-BY-2.0)

•Crop productivity will be affected by higher temperatures and changes to water availability

•Higher temperatures will also increase stress upon cattle

•Disease patterns will also change as the migration patterns of carriers of plant, animal and human diseases will change, posing risks to both human health but also agricultural productivity

•Warmer oceans and ocean acidification will also impact food security

At lower levels of temperature rise there may be some positive benefits for crop production at higher latitudes, but at higher levels of temperature rise the net effect of climate change is expected to be negative

Climate change

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Life Science Research – Raise profile of agricultural research?

• Strategy for UK Life Sciences

• Big Data Revolution• Prime Minister’s dementia

challenge• 100,000 Genome Project

• July 2013 first ever Agri-Tech Strategy (£160M)

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Credit: David Hares

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GMOs

• What organism?

• What gene?

• What purpose?

• The specific application – not the generic technology

New Technologies - Managing risk, not ducking it

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Credit: IRRI (CC-BY-2.0)

Credit: Rosalee Yagihara (CC-BY-2.0)

The policy challenge: Viewing difficult issues through lenses

1. Biannual Public Attitudes Tracker, Wave 7, November 2013 (Food Standards Agency)

2. British Beekeepers Association, Winter Survival Survey, June 2013

3. http://www.croplifeamerica.org/crop-protection/pesticide-facts

Respondents concerned about use of pesticides to grow food1

Use of crop protection products increase crop

productivity by 20 – 50%3

Bee colony

losses in 2012/13

reported by British

Beekeepers

Association2

34%

25%

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Credit: Thomas Shahan (CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0)

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Solutions Involve all Tools

Technology transfer

International collaboration/ investment

Public dialogue

YouTube: Fair use

Credit: Bananastock

Credit: OJO Images

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Conclusions

• Get evidence base right

• Economic importance of agricultural industry

(7% GVA)

• ONE Health, ONE Team

• Partnerships with industry and research