Last week I went to a conference that couldn’t have looked more promising. Focusing on climate change and the potential for new crops this was at last some visioning, some attention to climate change adaptation rather than just mitigation. Big cheeses from DEFRA, the NFU, the UK Climate Impacts Programme, the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Marks and Spencer and more lined up to speak.
Two of eight speakers mentioned new crops. Both said there wouldn’t be any. Most said that agriculture would receive an overall boost as predictions indicated that the broad-acre crops that dominate this country would enjoy the increased atmospheric CO2 and longer hotter season that come with climate change. All used it to bemoan the government and/or press only their own specialism as the saviour of farming. No mention all day of the word organic or any other contributors to a low carbon farming future. GM is apparently the way ahead. That and a little water conservation.
And that was the sum of what the bright minds of the powers that care for our ccountryside could come up with in the face of climate change. Heart sinkingly, mind numbingly depressing.
If that’s it, we may as well all fly ourselves silly