The inaugural event, organised by the Centre of Excellence for UK Farming (CEUKF), is the first time such a cross section of experts will debate what is needed for the UK to be the best place to produce safe and nutritious food – against the backdrop of climate change and other 21st century challenges.
Food security, continuity of supply, optimal efficiency and environmental sustainability are major UK and global issues and require effective collaboration between research and industry stakeholders to ensure that consumer demands can be met.
Given that no one organisation can address these issues in isolation, the meeting is being seen as a unique opportunity for a broad network of experts to test hypotheses and capture innovation that can be rapidly translated into benefits for consumers, processors and producers of UK food.
The Centre of Excellence for UK Farming (CEUKF) is a pioneering supply chain partnership established by Waitrose, the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB). The Centre is designed to deliver on the current and future requirements for sustainable food supply in the UK.
In less than a year since its establishment, CEUKF has already made significant progress in driving ground breaking research and innovation for the industry.
This means that the amounts of greenhouse gas emissions per ton of wheat harvested can now be monitored alongside the crop management and local conditions of that field.
Initial results for the fields studied have revealed that the amount of greenhouse gases produced per tonne of wheat reduced substantially as the yield of wheat increased. So for these fields at least, increasing yield had a beneficial effect in reducing the carbon footprint.
The CEUKF aims to build on this work with data from further fields and seasons, as well as developing similar indicators for other sustainability criteria, such as soil, water and wildlife habitat. It will also be looking to extend this approach across a range of farming and horticultural products.
Professor Wayne Powell, IBERS, Aberystwyth University, said: “We’re proud to be a lead partner in this pioneering Centre. I look forward to our first Conference and the opportunity to interact with a wide cross section of stakeholders from producers, research scientists, policy makers and the retail sector. Farming is now at the centre of some of the most important debates facing society and The Centre of Excellence for UK Farming (CEUKF) is committed to ensuring that the UK is able to produce a secure supply of safe and nutritious food in the presence of climate change.”
Source: Waitrose
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