The government has confirmed that it will bring forward new laws that will allow new precision breeding technology, including gene editing, to be used to grow crops in the UK.
Defra said the new technology will help increase food production, reduce costs to farmers and allow drought and disease resistant crops to be grown
Plant gene editing could encourage the development more nutritious crops that are resistant to pests and disease, while being resilient to climate change and more beneficial to the environment.
Gene editing and precision breeding has been advocated by many bodies, including the NFU, who signed on an open support statement of the Genetic Technology Bill.
Defra said precision breeding has the potential to add significant additional value to a plant breeding sector currently contributing £1 billion in additional value each year to the UK economy and boosting yields by more than 1% per annum.
The new labour government has updated policies that will reduce pesticide use, saving the pollinators that promote nature recovery, and stimulating investment into the sector.
At the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London, Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs Daniel Zeichner announced the benefits of the Precision Breeding Act will be ‘unlocked’ as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Mr Zeichner said: “This government recognises that food security is national security. […] precision breeding to boost food security, support nature’s recovery and protect farmers to climate shocks.”
The legislation will enable products such as tomatoes with high levels of vitamin D and sugar beet with less dependency on pesticides, to be rolled out across the country, and Research trials on precision bred products have begun.
The authorisation process previously allowed for only a handful of large multinationals to bring a new product to market, but this will be simplified, making things fairer for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Defra has said that it will shield farmers from trade deal undercutting, ensure fair supply chains, prevent bill spikes with GB Energy, enhance flood protection through a new Taskforce, and support British produce with government purchasing power.
