Population growth will demand more food in the future and this will have be produced sensitively to prevent degrading our environment beyond repair. This was the key message from Oxford academic Charles Godfray, who addressed a mixed farming and urban audience in Aberdeen this week. The broad, big picture vision of “doing more with less” and reducing carbon emissions are getting quite repetitive and we need to become a bit more specific.
There was much made of nutrient recycling and working with nature to produce food. Well any farmer can tell you it is impossible to work against nature and we have been nutrient recycling for centuries with our mixed livestock and crop farms. It is time to get some of the future visions tied down to working farms and illustrate the changes they would like to see made.
Farmers will continue to make productivity gains, as we have done for over 200 years, and we will keep making resources stretch further for food production. But if there are to be seismic changes then we need to be told where we are heading.
ADVERTISEMENT
Register for free to read this story and our free stories.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to the site until next Wednesday at 9pm.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact support.
Population growth will demand more food in the future and this will have be produced sensitively to prevent degrading our environment beyond repair. This was the key message from Oxford academic Charles Godfray, who addressed a mixed farming and urban audience in Aberdeen this week. The broad, big picture vision of “doing more with less” and reducing carbon emissions are getting quite repetitive and we need to become a bit more specific.
There was much made of nutrient recycling and working with nature to produce food. Well any farmer can tell you it is impossible to work against nature and we have been nutrient recycling for centuries with our mixed livestock and crop farms. It is time to get some of the future visions tied down to working farms and illustrate the changes they would like to see made.
Farmers will continue to make productivity gains, as we have done for over 200 years, and we will keep making resources stretch further for food production. But if there are to be seismic changes then we need to be told where we are heading.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address. Please click on the link in this email to reset your password. If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you can't find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
ENTER YOUR LOYALTY CODE:
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
SHARING OPTIONS