F
News
F
T
he
frui
TG
rower
•D
e
C
e
MB
er
2017
TheN
fu
has said that the
i
ndustrial Strategy
w
hite
Paper contains positive recognition that theBritish food
and farming industry can play an even greater role in the
country’s economic prosperity. TheGovernment’s
ambitions for the sector, set out in theStrategy, pave the
way for other Government departments tobuild on them,
theN
fu
says.
i
t reflects on thework that theN
fu
has
been driving forward, alongwith other organisations, to
demonstratewhere and howproductivity gains can be
made in the sector.
h
ighlights in the paper include:
“
w
ewill put the
u
K at the forefront of the global move to
high-efficiency agriculture.”
“
w
ewill grow themarkets for innovative farming
technologies and techniques, such as the use of drones.”
“
f
ood andDrinkSector Council - a newpartnership
betweenGovernment and thewhole food chain, working
with industry leaders from agriculture, food anddrink
manufacturing, retail, hospitality and logistics.”
“Theworldwill need 60%more foodby 2050 to allow us
to feed 9billion people, while demand for water is
expected to rise by 20% in the agriculture sector
alone.
f
or this tobe possible, thewaywe produce food
needs tobe significantlymore efficient and sustainable.”
Agriculture is also highlighted as one of six target
business sectors for a new government
o
ffice for Artificial
i
ntelligence.
N
fu
PresidentMeurig
r
aymond said: “The
i
ndustrial
Strategy shows some positive prospects for British food
and farming – a sector worth £112billion to the
u
K
economy, employing 3.8million people. TheN
fu
has been
raising the profile of the agri-food sector ever since the
Department for Business
e
nergy and
i
ndustrial Strategy
began consulting on driving economic growth and
productivity earlier this year.
w
e are delighted to read of
theGovernment’s desire to ‘put the
u
K at the forefront of
the global move to high-efficiency agriculture’ aswell as
the likely prospect of a newChallenge
f
undprogramme of
research funding on ‘transforming foodproduction, from
farm to fork’. TheN
fu
’swork on setting out innovation
needs for farming is a key ingredient.
8
N
fu
welcomes
i
ndustrial Strategy’s focus on
u
K
foodproduction
Glyphosphate decision
The decision to re-authorise the use of glyphosate for five
years iswelcome news and testament to the hardwork of
British farmers in lobbyingM
e
Ps over its safety and
benefits, theN
fu
said today.
Guy Smith, N
fu
VicePresident, said: “
i
would like topay
tribute to the farmers across the countrywho have lobbied
theirM
e
Ps and invited themout onto farms to see first-
hand the benefits glyphosate brings, and thosewho have
made the case for glyphosate’s reauthorisation on social
media.
i
am convinced their efforts have helped us reach
this positive outcome.
i
t is good news that farmers and
growerswill be able to continue usingglyphosate for
another five years.
h
owever, the fact remains that there is
absolutely no regulatory reasonwhy it should not have been
re-authorised for 15 years, aswas originally proposed.
“Today’s decisionwill bewelcomedby farmerswho have
watchedwith growing concern aswhat should have been a
straightforwarddecision has become increasingly political.
TheN
fu
has repeatedly said that decisions like thismust
be basedon science and evidence. This clearly hasn’t
happened in this case.
i
ndependent regulatory bodies
around theworld, including the
e
uropean
f
oodSafety
Authority (
ef
SA) and the
e
uropeanChemicals Agency
(
e
C
h
A), have looked at all the scientific evidence and
concluded that glyphosate is safe to use. But their
conclusions have been ignored and their credibility has
been undermined. Glyphosate reduces the need to use
other herbicides, it helps toprotect soil and cut greenhouse
gas emissions by reducing the need for ploughing, and it
enables farmers in this country to grow crops that help
produce safe, affordable, high qualityBritish food.”
i
rish apple cropbetter than
expected
i
reland has had a relatively normal apple growing season
this year, and the hurricane in
o
ctober causedmuch less
damage than hadbeen feared. Grower Con Traas, whose
family emigrated from theNetherlands to
i
reland in the
1960s, supplies the retail andwholesalemarkets aswell as
sellingdirect to the public from his farm shop.
h
e told a
Dutch journalist recently, “Therewas a bit of frost in some
areas, but it was localised. The stormmostly affected the
cider apples, whichwere shaken from the trees by the
wind - theywere all blown off in one day”. Themarket in
i
reland has been buoyant this year due to the shortage in
some other
e
uropeanmarkets, with Jonagored,
r
ed
Prince and
r
ed
e
lstar beingpopular. Jazz trees have been
trialled, but the variety is not ideally suited to the cold
climate, which is also true for themore sensitiveCripps
Pink.
