Organic farm subsidies are not the answer to the global food security threat
A proposal by the Prince of Wales for organic farm subsidies would be a huge step backwards for the ability of UK farming to contribute towards food security and the fight against climate change, warns the Crop Protection Association.
Speaking this week at Georgetown University’s ‘The Future of Food’ conference, in Washington DC, Prince Charles called for agricultural subsidies to be geared towards less intensive ‘greener’ farming practices in a bid to tackle threats to food production and the environment. He argued that current farming methods are costing the environment and economies across the world, and perhaps the time has arrived when a long, hard look is needed at the way public subsidies are generally geared.
Dominic Dyer, CPA’s chief executive, says that it is time instead to acknowledge that farmers are adopting sustainable farming practices, utilising new modern agricultural methods and inputs that have already significantly reduced carbon emissions and the amount of energy used during farming, and are, in reality, far more sustainable than the organic farming advocated by his Royal Highness.
“The suggestion that tax-payers should subsidise an uneconomic agricultural production system with a declining market demand is untenable,” says Mr Dyer.
“On a global scale organic farming systems cannot deliver the quantities of food needed for a rapidly rising global population without using more land, energy and water which will actually have a negative environmental impact – with or without a ‘green’ subsidy.
“Food prices are rising in the UK, and in many countries around the world, at record levels. The organic food market is in serious decline because British consumers are no longer willing to pay a significant premium for food products that have no proven health or nutrition benefits,” says Mr Dyer.
In context:
- Despite the doubling of the world population since the 1960s, the amount of land used for farming has remained virtually constant; crop protection products have enabled farmers to produce higher yields of their crops on less land.
- A century ago the average farmer in the UK, or the United States, produced food for 2.5 people. Today a single farmer can feed more than 130 people with the aid of sophisticated crop protection tools.
- The conservation of water and reduction in soil erosion is bolstered by the responsible use of crop protection products coupled with modern agricultural methods. Inputs like agricultural herbicides enable growers to manage weeds with reduced tillage methods, saving tractor fuel and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
For further information, contact:
Dominic Dyer - Crop Protection Association
T: 01733 355372
E: dominic@cropprotection.org.uk
W: www.cropprotection.org.uk
Dr Julian Little - BayerCropScience
T: 01223 226606
E: julian.little@bayer.com
