Farming: Free us to produce more food, Peter Kendall urges

Food production must be a strategic priority in the Westminster government's new national planning framework, Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers Union in England and Wales, said yesterday in his New Year message to the industry.

Speaking in advance of the two-day Oxford Farming Conference, which opens tomorrow, Kendall called on the government to loosen the shackles on farming to allow farmers to produce more food, reduce the country's dependence on imports and make a greater contribution to economic recovery.

UK self-sufficiency in food, he pointed out, had fallen from 75 per cent 20 years ago to 59 per cent in 2009, while Rural Affairs Secretary Caroline Spelman had admitted that indigenous food that could be grown in the UK accounted for half of the country's 32.5 billion annual food imports bill.

The Prime Minister while in opposition had given a commitment to "strip away" the barriers that stood in the way of achieving greater food security.

"Farmers are ready to rise to the challenge and invest in their businesses," said Kendall. "Let 2011 be the year in which the government takes its own commitment to increasing food production seriously and - instead of relying on imports to fill the food gap - puts in place a policy framework which will enable Britain's producers to keep up with demand."

The importance of global food security was clear at a time when the world population was projected to grow from six billion to nine billion by 2050. But encouraging home food production was equally important, he said, with the UK population set to rise from 62 million in 2009 to 72 million by 2033.

"With eight million more mouths to feed, it is in our national interest to produce more food in the UK if we're going to ensure food supplies for UK consumers," Kendall said.