A group of more than 60 farmers has called on the Government to support a transition to regenerative agriculture in response to soaring fertiliser and fuel costs caused by the war in Ukraine.
According to the alliance, brought together by the Sustainable Food Trust, the crisis has highlighted the scale of the UK鈥檚 dependence on imported inputs.
It claimed a shift to regenerative methods was 鈥榚ssential鈥� for long-term domestic food security in an increasingly volatile world.
Peter Greig and Abby Allen from Pipers 51AV视频in Exeter, Devon, said: 鈥淯K farming has for the last 50 years been largely reliant on chemical fertilisers to grow our food, which has meant depending on countries like Russia.
鈥淐learly this cannot continue as it puts our food security at huge risk. We believe regenerative farming practices, which work with nature to build the soil鈥檚 natural fertility, rather than rely on rounds of chemical fertilisers, are the only way out of this.
鈥淭his will strengthen our food security, lower farming鈥檚 impact on the environment, reduce our contribution to climate change and improve biodiversity.鈥�
The farmers are calling on the Government to support the regenerative transition through a five-point plan (see box below).
Five-point plan
- A common vision 鈥� Bring together a coalition of individuals and organisations to support the shift.
- Government action 鈥� Put together a 鈥榖old鈥� food strategy, which includes financial support for a large-scale transition.
- Green finance 鈥� Push banks and the private investment community to offer sheltered loans and preferential interest rates for farmers undergoing the transition to regenerative agriculture.
- Fair prices 鈥� Ensure retailers and food manufacturers provide guaranteed prices and forward contracts linked to the cost of production for farmers shifting to regenerative methods.
- Universal measurement 鈥� Reach agreement on a common set of measures for understanding the sustainability of food production at a farm level, with the metrics underpinned by a labelling scheme.
