Memorandum submitted by the Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (SFS 50)
SUMMARY AND
MAIN MESSAGES
— BBSRC is the UK's leading public
funder of research underpinning agriculture and food supply, and
plays a key role in supporting relevant science through universities
and the BBSRC research institutes.
— Climate and other environmental change
are important factors but food security must also be considered
more widely.
— BBSRC research institutes are a key
resource and national asset, central to the UK's capability to
respond to the challenges ahead.
— Improvements are needed in the translation
of underpinning science into practical applications: Defra and
the Technology Strategy Board must play a leading role in partnership
with BBSRC.
— Substantial and sustained new funding
for research and training from the public (research councils,
government departments) and private sectors will be essential
to deliver basic and applied research and to ensure its translation
into practice.
— There is a need for better coordination
across research funders, including more leadership from Defra
as the responsible government department.
INTRODUCTION
1. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council (BBSRC[134])
is the UK's leading public funder of research and postgraduate
training in the non-medical biosciences, including agriculture,
food, and diet and health. Embedded within our strong ethos of
excellence in research we actively promote knowledge transfer
from basic research to applications in industry, policy and public
services, and foster public engagement across the biosciences.
2. This response should be read in conjunction
with the submission from Research Councils UK, to which BBSRC
contributed and which addresses each of the questions posed by
the EFRA Committee. In addition, four BBSRC research institutes
have submitted separate evidence that each provide more detailed
scientific perspectives, in particular on animal diseases (Institute
for Animal Health), crop production (John Innes Centre and Rothamsted
Research) and food safety and nutrition (Institute of Food Research).
The challenge of food security
3. We strongly welcome this inquiry by the
EFRA Committee. Future food security for the UK and globally is
a crucially important and wide-ranging issue that requires coordinated
approaches across government, industry and other stakeholders.
Research and skilled people will be essential to meet the significant
challenges ahead.
4. Food security is not simply about climate
and environmental change. If we had no climate change then, as
the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser has made clear, mankind
would still be faced with a significant food security challenge—for
example through global population growth, changing demographics
and competition for land. But factors such as climate change exacerbate
the problem through additional threats to food production.
5. While crop production and the security
of grain supplies have received much attention, we emphasise that
food production and security (and the underlying research needs)
must be considered more widely. Crop production depends on sustainable
management of agricultural land and soils. Also centrally important
is the production of animals for food (including farm animals,
aquaculture and fisheries). The understanding, prediction and
control of pests and diseases of livestock and crops are further
vital topics, particularly in the context of climate change that
is likely to lead to changes in the distribution of disease-causing
organisms and/or their vectors (insects, etc) (see BBSRC institutes,
below).
6. Food security drivers and associated
research needs need to be considered at UK, European and global
levels, while recognising that all are inter-related. Furthermore,
the security of food supplies must be considered in the broader
context of global production and international trade; storage,
distribution and transport; food processing, manufacture, preservation
and reducing waste. Food safety must be maintained throughout
the supply chain. The relation between diet and health must be
better understood as part of the context of providing increased
supplies of nutritious food.
7. A further aspect of the broader context
is that food security depends on energy, water and other inputs
such as fertilisers and pesticides—directly for food production
and also as fuel etc needed for food processing and supply chains.
ROLE OF
BBSRC
8. BBSRC, as the principal public funder
of research related to food production and security, supports
fundamental, strategic and applied research and postgraduate training
that underpins agriculture and food supply. This continues a long
history in the UK of high quality research related to agriculture
and food, funded largely by BBSRC and its predecessors.
9. BBSRC total spend in this area was around
£185 million in 2007-08. This included research on:
plant and crop science (including the control of pests and diseases);
soil science; aquaculture; animal health; animal welfare; food
safety; food manufacturing; diet and health; agricultural systems
and the effects of environmental change on those systems.
10. BBSRC supports research in UK universities
and in the Council's sponsored institutes. Research ranges from
basic underpinning biology aimed at fundamental understanding
of how plants, animals, microbes and biological systems function
(at molecular, cell, organism and population levels), to more
strategic and applied research (including work in collaboration
with industry) focused on important questions of direct relevance
to food production and supply.
11. BBSRC works to support international
partnerships and research collaborations around the world, including
links with countries of growing economic importance such as China
and Brazil. We are also pleased to work closely with DfID and
have recently put in place two major research initiatives co-funded
with the department, both directly relevant to food security in
developing countries.
12. Examples of BBSRC-funded and other research
(relating particularly to crop production and underpinning plant
science) can be found in the recent BBSRC publication Bioscience
behind secure harvests.[135]
BBSRC INSTITUTES
13. The BBSRC sponsored research institutes
form a core component of the UK's national capability in research
and training relevant to agriculture and food security. They provide
critical mass of scientific expertise together with essential
facilities, infrastructure and resources for research. They are
also a vital source of independent advice to Government.
14. The BBSRC institutes related to food
security are:
— Institute for Animal Health (Compton
and Pirbright)—combating livestock diseases www.iah.bbsrc.ac.uk.
— Institute of Food Research (Norwich)—food
structure, quality and safety, diet & health www.ifr.ac.uk.
— John Innes Centre (Norwich)—plant
and microbial science underpinning crop production www.jic.ac.uk.
— Rothamsted Research (Harpenden) and
North Wyke Research (Devon)—arable and grassland agricultural
systems www.rothamsted.ac.uk.
15. In addition, BBSRC continues to provide
significant funding for research relevant to agriculture at two
former institutes that have recently transferred from BBSRC to
universities: the Roslin Institute (Edinburgh—farm animal
science, www.roslin.ac.uk),
and the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences
(IBERS, Aberystwyth—grassland and associated livestock science,
www.directoribers.co.uk).
16. Particular strengths of the BBSRC institutes
include the ability to conduct long-term, mission-oriented research
using specialist facilities, some of which are unique in the UK
or internationally (such as animal disease containment facilities
and long-term field experiments). The institutes maintain strong
interactions with industry, government departments and other end-users
of their research to provide advice and promote knowledge transfer,
and are leading partners in numerous overseas collaborations.
They are active in public engagement, and also contribute significantly
to training future generations of scientists: the institutes host
numerous postgraduate research students, building on the many
links between the institutes and leading UK universities.
17. Most of the UK's capacity to work on
pathogens of livestock and crops rests in BBSRC sponsored institutes.
This is particularly the case with animal disease where the Institute
for Animal Health (IAH) is a major international centre of excellence.
An example of the crucial role of the institute's research is
that of the recent occurrence of bluetongue virus (BTV) in the
UK. Bluetongue is a significant disease of ruminants such as sheep
and cattle which is carried by biting midge vectors. Scientists
at IAH have monitored the progression of the disease and its vector
from northern Africa through the Mediterranean to northern Europe.
In 2007 they were able to predict, based on temperature and
weather patterns, the first occurrence of the disease in eastern
England. This significantly increased the UK's preparedness for
the disease and a vaccination campaign (again based on IAH research)
in 2008 prevented significant recurrence. IAH remains at
the forefront of the battle against BTV as further different types
of the virus now threaten the UK. An independent report by consultants
DTZ[136]
estimated that the institute's work on BTV has potentially saved
the UK economy £485 million and 10,000 jobs. Further
details of the science behind bluetongue and the role of IAH can
be found on the Institute's website.[137]
Future funding and coordination
18. Food security is a broad and complex
area: food production and supply must be set in the wider context
that includes environmental and socio-economic considerations.
The Food Matters report is a welcome analysis, and the
submission from RCUK sets out some of these complexities from
a research perspective. Research on many topics will be central
to meeting the challenges of future food demands.
19. Substantial and sustained new investment
in research and development will be needed over the coming years
and decades. Food security will be a priority for BBSRC research
funding, but coordinated investment from other partners across
government and industry will also be essential.
20. Defra is clearly an important player
and the department should take more of a lead across government
and in partnership with others. The submission from RCUK draws
attention to the long-standing difficulties in interactions with
Defra over funding for Research Council institutes, and in particular
Defra's failure to implement RIPPS[138]
and acknowledge its role in contributing to the sustainability
of the research base and infrastructure. The department's focus
on short-term funding has not been conducive to planning what
are intrinsically longer-term research programmes. Overall, Defra's
support for research in agriculture and food has declined considerably
over many years. Funding cuts have had significant impact, notably
at BBSRC institutes and especially when imposed with little notice,
and it has not been possible for the Research Councils or other
funders to fill the gap.
21. While Defra should take a lead in coordination
across government and other stakeholders, BBSRC will have an important
role as a major funder in this topic. We will continue to work
closely with other funders including Defra to deliver the necessary
research and help meet the future challenges.
Translation into practice
22. While the UK has major strengths in
basic bioscience and other relevant disciplines, the translation
of that underpinning knowledge into practice is less well developed
and rather fragile. Key areas of concern where translation is
problematic (all relevant to Defra and where the department should
have a role) include: the improvement of crops and farm animals;
addressing the health and welfare of farm animals; food safety
throughout the supply chain; and issues around impact of EU legislation
on UK farming practice. There are also important translational
considerations in areas such as the support of collaborative research
between academia and industry, enabling SMEs to engage in relevant
research, and the promulgation of best practice throughout the
farming sector.
23. Further emphasis, with suitable incentives
and rewards for researchers, needs to be placed on strategic and
applied research, and directed towards promoting practical application
by industry.
24. BBSRC and its institutes have an important
role to play in helping to deliver the full range of research,
from basic to applied, and its translation into practice. But
other funders must also contribute. It is to be hoped that plans
to develop funding mechanisms in partnership with the Technology
Strategy Board can be brought to fruition.
Future directions—BBSRC food security meeting,
February 2009
25. BBSRC is currently developing a new
strategic plan for the next five years, in which food security,
and the relationship between diet and health, will feature prominently.
To take forward its new strategy, the Council is holding a high-level
meeting in February 2009 to draw together scientific thinking
about food security, including input from the Government's Chief
Scientific Adviser, Professor John Beddington. The purpose of
the meeting is to develop a "roadmap" for coordinating
scientific and user responses to the research challenges of food
security—on timescales of 20 and 40 years—and
to provide a framework for BBSRC's future investment in association
with other Research Councils and government departments.
26. Skills shortages are a problem in a
wide range of topics related to food security (the RCUK submission
to this inquiry also refers). Recognising the fragile nature of
the delivery pipeline, there will need to be an emphasis on the
provision of appropriate skills, mechanisms and funding for strategic
and applied research to translate the findings of the UK's excellent
basic science in biology and other disciplines into practical
applications by the farming and food industries.
BBSRC
January 2009
134 BBSRC, a non-departmental public body, is one of
seven Research Councils supported through the Department for Innovation,
Universities and Skills (DIUS). BBSRC works with partner Research
Councils through RCUK. Further details are available at www.bbsrc.ac.uk Back
135
Bioscience behind secure harvests (BBSRC, 2009)
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/publications/corporate/bioscience_behind_secure_harvests.html Back
136
DTZ report: www.iah.bbsrc.ac.uk/ecosoc/docs/Blue-Tongue-case-study.pdf Back
137
Bluetongue information on IAH website: www.iah.ac.uk/news/btnews.shtml Back
138
RIPSS: Research Council Institute and PSRE Sustainability Study
(DTI, 2004)
www.berr.gov.uk/dius/science/science-funding/ripss/page22675.html
and www.berr.gov.uk/files/file14578.pdf Back
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