A new era is dawning for the funding of research for farming. The Technology Strategy Board, which is a non-departmental government body responsible for supporting technological innovation for all sectors of industry, announced in October that it would fund R&D for the agri-food sector. This amounts to a £75 million pound fund over 5 
years, for collaborative technology-based research with industry. And this has led to Defra announcing an end to the LINK programmes. Details have gradually been emerging and, at a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture on 1 December, some useful presentations and discussion made things a bit clearer. Lots of things still remain to be sorted but this new initiative has great potential and is a significant opportunity to make a difference to productive and efficient farming. The sector must grab it with both hands!
The Head of Development at TSB described the scope of the TSB and the funding mechanisms that would be used to spend the new money. It is called an ‘Innovation Platform’. The Innovation Platform’s strapline is ‘more for less’, which fits very nicely with the NFU’s message in Why Farming Matters More Than Ever ‘produce more, impact less’. Put very bluntly, the TSB’s aim is to make the sector more prosperous, so that government R&D investment is returned to the coffers through more corporation tax.
The delivery of this technological R&D is through collaborative investment (i.e. industry and government), and is supported by two more set-ups with special names – Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTNs) and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). These aim to put people with problems to solve and questions to ask together with those that can help answer them through research. It also provides a forum for industry to coherently communicate its research needs to government. The one for us is the Bioscience KTN.
Food research is important across government
A cross-government Food Research Programme has been set up, led by the Government Office of Science under John Beddington, and with significant input from the BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council). Peter Kendall is a member of the Partnership, along with others in the food supply chain. The paper on High Level Skills for Agri-Food will be published on the GO Science website. Next the FRP is planning to look at the international dimension.
BBSRC focuses on Food Security
Next week the main academic research council that funds science relevant to farming, BBSRC, will be launching a new website on food security, aiming to engage a wide community of stakeholders with historical perspectives, facts, and interactive and multi-media features. This theme fits with their new Strategic Plan currently being developed, on which the NFU sent in comments. And the cross-Research Council strategy on food security research, which BBSRC is leading and the NFU also commented on. NFU President Peter Kendall has written a blog for the new site on why science and research are essential in the effort to ensure food security and why, by producing more and impacting less, British agriculture can have a central role to play. Look out for the link from the BBSRC website.
More analysis of why science matters for farming, and the need for a shared vision...
NFU Chief Science and Regulatory Affairs Adviser, Dr Helen Ferrier, spoke at the
AIC AgriBusiness conference on 11 November 2009. From the links on the right of this page you can read her speech and see the slides she used to illustrate it. The momentum to achieve a better picture for agricultural R&D in the UK continues to build, and new initiatives such as the TSB Innovation Platform, the cross government Food Research Programme, and the BBSRC’s drive on food security are being set up. There is a great deal of potential here but it comes with challenges and responsibilities for all stakeholders to play a role, and to work together, in delivering the solutions farming and society needs in the 21 century.
Is R&D important for competitiveness? Yes!
The Commercial Farmers’ Group has produced a new paper on UK agricultural competitiveness, 'Let UK Farming Compete', as part of its work on the issue of food security. This and other useful papers on the needs and priorities for agricultural and horticultural R&D can be found on the CFG website.
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