Call for more agricultural R&D spending

IF THE world is going to meet the expected surge in demand for food, then there must be a radical change in the funding of research and development (R&D), according to Professor Peter Lillford, of the University of York.

In a keynote lecture in London last night at an event organised by the Policy Studies Institute, he said that current investment in R&D was only benefiting multinational food companies.

"We have to have a fresh look at all the links in the food chain. What is happening just now is the private sector's main motivations are to successfully compete with each other and also to achieve a measurable financial yield on their investment."

He believed that while that approach may be reasonable in the free market, it would not help countries such as the UK with the population of this country being moved further away from any direct benefits from research. "We will always have a food chain for the UK, it is just a question of who will own it."

His preference was for more support cash going from the public purse into rebuilding self sufficiency.