Government to introduce new precision breeding technology to increase food production

New precision breeding technology to increase food production, reduce costs to farmers and allow drought and disease resistant crops to be grown will be brought forward under new laws, the Government has announced.

Using technologies like gene editing on plants, precision breeding will enable the development of crops that are more nutritious, resistant to pests and disease, resilient to climate change and more beneficial to the environment.  

The measures will also reduce the use of pesticides, saving the important pollinators that are vital to the ecosystem. Additional benefits include boosting investment into the sector, supporting Britain’s food security, increasing food production and reducing costs for farmers.

At the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London, Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs Daniel Zeichner announced that the government will pass the secondary legislation required to unlock the benefits of the Precision Breeding Act "as soon as parliamentary time allows". 

Precision bred products have already started to undergo research trials, including tomatoes with high levels of vitamin D and sugar beet that is less reliant on pesticides. The legislation will enable these products to be rolled out across the country.

Currently, only a few large multinationals can afford to navigate the complex authorisation process required to bring a new product to market. The government hopes that new legislation will simplify this process, making things fairer for SMEs and boosting investment.

Plant breeding currently contributes £1 billion in additional value each year to the UK economy and boosts yields by more than one per cent per annum. However, to meet rising challenges in our food system and the environment, further innovation is needed, and precision breeding has the potential to add significant additional value.