17/07/2024

BSPB welcomes the new team in Defra, and outlines key policy priorities

It’s now nearly two weeks since the General Election and as the new Government gets to work, the BSPB welcomes the new Defra team of Steve Reed, Daniel Zeichner, Emma Hardy, and Baroness Hayman. We’ve already has several discussions with Daniel Zeichner this year, and as the long-standing MP for Cambridge he’s very aware of the role and importance of the plant breeding and seed sectors.

There’s no shortage of work for the new Government, or the new team in Defra. This includes some key policy issues that need to be addressed urgently to remove barriers that are stifling investment to encourage the sustainable growth plant breeding has a proven track record of delivering.

Policy priorities are in detail in the document linked below, in short, they are:

  • The need to simplify or remove the many barriers to the trade and movement of seed that breeders currently face, whether that seed is for commercial or research purposes.
  • The need to simplify and reduce the burden, cost, and time taken in getting new varieties to market by improving the national listing process.
  • The need for more joined-up agricultural, environmental, and economic policy. This should lead to policy which recognises and enables the ability of the plant breeding and seed sector to deliver on our shared national policy goals of ensuring the increasingly sustainable and secure production of food.

View the full BSPB message for how the government can help the seed sector deliver higher growth in the UK by clicking here:

BSPB - New Government Message

BSPB – New Government Message  [PDF Document]

Plant breeding and seeds underpin almost every aspect of our agricultural and horticultural food and feed supply chains. It’s also increasingly contributing to many of the agri-environmental schemes which have been introduced, as well as the growing biofuel and natural fibre sectors. For generations, plant breeders have been working to improve yields but also the quality, consistency, disease resistance, and resilience of crops. It might not have always been explicitly described as such, but this has always essentially been about delivering increasingly sustainable plant varieties and crops.

If we are to tackle the challenges posed by climate change and Net Zero, whilst ensuring food security and economic growth, the new Government should prioritise enabling the plant breeding sector invest with confidence in the UK. This will in turn enhance the ability of the sector to develop and supply the latest and best varieties of seed to UK farmers, growers, and supply chains – and we’ll all benefit from that.

 

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