Leading the way in the campaign for agricultural developments for East Anglia, George Freeman MP has received widespread coverage for his work.

Norfolk MP calls for new research approach (EDP24, Saturday, February 19, 2011)

Mid-Norfolk MP George Freeman has called for improved co-ordination of food and farming research.

As the chairman of a cross-party agricultural parliamentary group, he highlighted the potential of East Anglia’s research and life sciences sectors while visiting the National Institute of Agricultural Botany at Cambridge.

Mr Freeman, chairman of the parliamentary group on science and technology in agriculture, was keen to encourage even more collaboration between public and private sector.
He said that a dedicated food and farming technology and innovation centre could provide the leadership and co-ordination needed to take new scientific discoveries through to practical application.

Mr Freeman was told by senior NIAB staff about research in the pipeline to improve yield, climate resilience and resource use efficiency of major crops.

He visited the glasshouse complex, growth room facilities and plant genetics laboratory, which had carried out in the past five years to strengthen core activities in plant variety and seed testing, and to extend crop science capabilities.

“Producing more agricultural outputs with fewer inputs is one of the biggest challenges facing us in the 21st century and, through world-leading independent crop research centres such as NIAB, Britain is well-placed to play a key role in addressing that challenge.

“However, it is clear that much of the research taking place in the UK’s life sciences sector requires closer co-ordination to ensure our rapidly advancing knowledge-base is translated into useful products and practices on the ground.

“I am encouraging those in the industry and research community to explore setting up a specific technology and innovation centre for the food and agricultural sciences in the UK to bring together our leading scientists in collaboration,” said Mr Freeman.

| EDP

Centre of excellence for UK farming (Anglia Farmer, 18 February 2011)

A NATIONAL centre of excellence for agriculture is to have its home in East Anglia.

Aimed at helping the industry meet the increasing challenges in food production and sustainability, the Centre of Excellence for UK Farming (CEUKF) is to be established in Cambridge.

It will provide a network of expertise to help ensure the best information and advice on developments in science, innovation and practical know-how are accessible to provide real benefits across the supply chain. The two founding institutes are the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), in Cambridge.

Supermarket chain Waitrose has agreed to fund the establishment of the centre as part of its commitment to finding long-term solutions to food security, climate change and other issues affecting future agricultural production. Waitrose managing director Mark Price said: “Farmers and the food chain are fundamental to our response to the global challenge of feeding more people using fewer inputs and with reduced environmental impact.

“Securing a balance between increased productivity and more efficient use of natural resources will require new thinking and innovative approaches. That objective is fundamental to the Centre of Excellence.”

CEUKF steering board chairman Don Curry said the centre would provide a practical response to high-level calls for the ‘sustainable intensification’ of agriculture by supporting to farmers and food producers.“Our ambition is to grow its capabilities and bring together a broadening partnership of farming, research and food chain organisations who share a commitment to sustainable, efficient food production.”

Pilot research programmes are underway to benchmark the efficiency of lamb and wheat production. They are focusing on key sustainability indicators such as greenhouse gas emissions and ecological diversity. Preliminary results of these foundation projects will be announced later this year.

Tory MP for Mid-Norfolk George Freeman, who is chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture, recently called for increased collaboration between the public and private sectors.

“Much of the research taking place in the UK’s life sciences sector requires closer co-ordination to ensure our rapidly advancing knowledge-base is translated into useful products and practices on the ground,” he said.

Mr Freeman met NIAB’s senior leadership team last month to hear first-hand about research aiming to help improve the yield, climate resilience and resource use efficiency of our major crops.

He also toured a new glasshouse complex, growth room facilities and plant genetics laboratory at the Cambridge site – part of a five-year investment programme to strengthen the Institute’s core activities.
The government’s recent Foresight report into food security identified a clear need to support and encourage the UK’s agricultural research and food science sectors, said Mr Freeman.

“Producing more agricultural outputs with fewer inputs is one of the biggest challenges facing us in the 21st century.” The long-term nature of the research involved meant it was important to act now.
With leadership and collaboration – and collaboration in research – the UK’s farming and food sciences industry could be a major driver of economic growth over the next decade, said Mr Freeman.

| Anglia Farmer

How can a future global population of nine billion people all be fed healthily and sustainably? (Farm Business, 11 February 2011)

The Global Food and Farming Futures report, by the Government’s futures think tank Foresight, has finally put what the food and farming industry has known for years into the minds of policy makers and, hopefully, the public.

The report makes it plain that population growth and increasing affluence, which will bring a decent standard of living for the first time in history to many parts of the world, will add up to unprecedented demand for food. Agriculture must respond and it must be allowed to use every weapon in the scientific armoury to come up with enough production on a sustainable basis.

“The food system is already failing in at least two ways,” said Professor Sir John Beddington, the Government’s chief scientific adviser and head of the Foresight programme. “First, it is unsustainable, with resources being used faster than they can be naturally replenished. Second, a billion people are going hungry with another billion people suffering from ‘hidden hunger’, while a billion people are over-consuming.”

“It calls for a major rethink in our attitudes towards the funding and application of new technologies and practices in agriculture,” said NIAB chief executive Dr Tina Barsby. “This is welcome news for NIAB as a national crop research centre combining within a single resource the specialist knowledge, skills and facilities needed to support the development of improved crop varieties, to evaluate their performance and quality, and to ensure the benefits of those advances are transferred effectively on the ground.”

“The challenge of producing more food with fewer inputs is one of the defining challenges of the 21st Century,” said George Freeman MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture, who is also parliamentary private secretary to the minister for climate change. He called for an evidence-based approach to the regulation of new technology in agriculture, “responding to fact not fiction and fostering rather than stifling innovation”.

“For those of us who have worked in the food sciences sector, the potential of the UK’s agricultural science base generally and for GM crops specifically is incredibly exciting,” he said. “We can’t allow hysterical, reactionary and unproven fears of GM technology to stand in the way of what is potentially a huge contributor towards rebalancing our nation’s economy and feeding the world.”

“We hope this research will act as a wake-up call to the Government to take a more enlightened stance to helping farmers maximise Europe’s contribution to global food security,” said CLA president William Worsley.

| Farm Business

UK MP Calls for Food Innovation Center (ISAAA, 11 February 2011)


George Freeman, member of U.K. Parliament and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology said that there is potential for agricultural research and life sciences sector in Norfolk that would benefit from a food innovation center.

"The recent Foresight report into food security identified a clear need to support and encourage our agricultural research and food science sectors. Producing more agricultural outputs with fewer inputs is one of the biggest challenges facing us in the 21st century, and, through world-leading independent crop research centers, Britain is well-placed to play a key role in addressing that challenge and the economic benefits this will entail," Freeman said.

Freeman urged the industry and research community to explore setting up a specific technology innovation center. "With leadership and collaboration, our food sciences industry can be a major driver of economic growth over the next decade and East Anglia is extremely well placed to benefit from this," he added.

| ISAAA

MP calls for food technology innovation centre (Cambridge News, 9 February 2011)

George Freeman MP, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science & Technology has visited crop research centre NIAB on Huntingdon Road to stress the potential of the region for agricultural research and the life sciences sector, calling for a food innovation centre to be set up.

He said his visit was part of a drive to unlock the East of England’s significant strength in the sectors: “By linking Norfolk’s traditional strength in agriculture and food sciences with institutions in Cambridge and specifically NIAB we can unlock lots of new opportunities in this area.”

He added: “The recent Foresight report into food security identified a clear need to support and encourage our agricultural research and food science sectors.

“Producing more agricultural outputs with fewer inputs is one of the biggest challenges facing us in the 21st century, and, through world-leading independent crop research centres such as NIAB, Britain is well-placed to play a key role in addressing that challenge and the economic benefits this will entail.”

But, he said, much of the UK’s life sciences research needed closer co-ordination to get quick results in the ground: “The urgency of the food security challenge, and the long-term nature of the research involved, are such that we need to act now.

“That’s why I am encouraging those in the industry and research community to explore setting up a specific technology innovation centre for the food and agricultural sciences in the UK to bring together our leading scientists.

“With leadership and collaboration, our food sciences industry can be a major driver of economic growth over the next decade and East Anglia is extremely well placed to benefit from this.”

| Cambridge News