Written question asked by Lord Spellar (Labour) on Wednesday, 2 September 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 16 September 2026. It was answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour) on Monday, 21 September 2026 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Crops: Droughts and Temperature
- Question
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To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the development of drought and heat tolerant varieties of crops for UK farmers.
- Answer
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Genetic technologies offer huge potential for British farmers, enabling development of crops that are more nutritious, resistant to pests and disease, resilient to climate change and more environmentally beneficial.
The department is supporting innovation through Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, funding a £12.5 million competition specifically for precision breeding, including drought resistant crops. Defra’s Genetic Improvement Networks Platform also supports £15m crop breeding R&D for priority climate resilience traits, including drought and heat.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- HL3035
- Session
- 2026-27
- Subjects
- Crops Droughts Farmers Temperature
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-09-21 10:17:00 +0100
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/lords/2026-27/HL3035
- In Indexing
- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/lords/2026-27/HL3035
- In Solr
- https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/lords/2026-27/HL3035