Tag Archives: Defra

Soil Association calls for improvements to soil health

The Soil Association wrote to the reappointed Defra Minister of State, Liz Truss, last month calling on her to establish a long-term plan to protect and improve UK soils.

The organisation also called on her to set a target to increase soil organic matter by 20% over the next 20 years. In her letter, Soil Association Chief Executive Helen Browning said, “As you will know, soils are vital to maintaining and lifting our productive capacity, as a habitat for 25% of all known species and in improving our resilience to climate change.  Improving soil health requires a vision and understanding beyond the here and now, and so the start of a new term of office for the Government coinciding with the FAO’s International Year of Soils suggests that there has never been a better opportunity to establish a long term plan to improve our soils.”

As part of its Year of Soils the UN-backed Save Our Soils initiative has launched an ‘I Like Organic’ campaign on Facebook. According to the group, for every ‘like’ that the page receives, €5 from the Save Our Soils initiative will be released, enough to save 500m² of fertile soil.

Campaign founder Volkert Engelsman said: “With every ‘like’, financial support can be provided to help educate and support growers in developing sustainable farming practices and in saving soil fertility through the use of organic techniques.”

The post Soil Association calls for improvements to soil health appeared first on Hort News.

Could Defra be abolished after election?

Fears that continued spending cuts after the election could see Defra abolished as a government department in its own right have been downplayed by the Conservatives.

Concerns were raised when agriculture was included in a sub-section of the Tory election manifesto, rather than having its own section, leaving some commentators to wonder if food and agricultural policy could fall under the remit of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Defra secretary Liz Truss, who is seeking re-election as Conservative MP for south-west Norfolk, told Farmers Weekly, “What is important about our manifesto is that we’ve put agriculture at the heart of the economy and jobs section. We firmly believe that food and farming has huge potential. It is a very important part of our economy and worth £100bn and accounts for one in eight jobs. There will always be a strong part of the UK government that looks after farming.”

She added that the work that Defra does is vital, but many farmers and growers still have concerns after Labour’s Margaret Beckett merged the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) with parts of the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Home Office in June 2001 following the food and mouth crisis.

The post Could Defra be abolished after election? appeared first on Hort News on 28 April 2015.