The Government has launched the UK Agriculture Partnership (UKAP), a new forum which will bring together stakeholders from across the UK to identify and improve collaborative working on shared issues facing the agricultural sector.
Discussions will explore topics such as on-farm water usage optimisation, the role of science and agri-tech in supporting food production, and solutions to reduce pollution and carbon emissions in the sector.
The first meeting of the UKAP took place last week (Thursday 27 January) at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, and focused on water quality.
According to Defra, universities, agricultural colleges, research institutes and agri-tech centres from across the UK are playing a central role in pioneering world-leading new approaches, and the UKAP will provide a platform for academics, experts, industry players and farming stakeholders to share scientific knowledge and best practice to learn from each other to identify innovative solutions to common problems.
“I’m launching the UK Agriculture Partnership to share UK-wide best practice, ideas and innovation – and to tackle some of the common challenges we face, from enriching our soils and reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture, to how best use technology and science to boost our food production ambitions,” said environment secretary, George Eustice. “We’re bringing together farmers, farming unions, environmental groups, agricultural colleges and associations so that we can tackle practical challenges together
