Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
What steps his Department is taking to promote the development of environmentally friendly pesticides to help support the domestic farming of rapeseed.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The consultation on the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides outlines how the Government will support the development of nature-based solutions, low toxicity methods, and biopesticides, in line with the principles of Integrated Pest Management.
In partnership with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Defra is funding field trials for Integrated Pest Management in oilseed rape.
Defra also supports research on the genetic improvement of rapeseed to increase resilience to pests.