Written question asked by William Bain (Labour) on Thursday, 11 August 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 6 September 2011. It was answered by James Paice (Conservative) on Tuesday, 6 September 2011 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Agriculture: Food

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the recommendations of the International Assessment for Agricultural Science and Technology for Development on consulting farmers on the technology required to increase productivity in the food sector.

Answer: The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development report was published in 2008 and is followed by the more recent Foresight report: The Future of Food and Farming¹. DEFRA is working with Government funders, research councils and the agriculture industry to boost technology through innovative collaborative research and development via the Agriculture and Food Innovation Platform (and formerly LINK Programmes) to increase productivity without impacting on the environment."¹http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/projects/published-projects/global-food-and-farming-futures/reports-and-publications"

Secondary information