Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to support farmers to produce more home grown wheat while meeting (a) net zero targets, (b) the targets outlined in the Environment Act 2021 and (c) other environmental commitments.

The Government is committed to reducing emissions in the farming sector. The transition goes hand in hand with food security and farm productivity. For wheat in 2023, the UK was 96% self-sufficient. We will support farmers to adopt low carbon farming practices, increasing the carbon stored on their land while boosting profitability.

Defra’s flagship crop breeding programme, the crop Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs), funds research to develop crop varieties that are more productive; sustainable; and have greater resilience against a changing climate, including drought tolerance. The latest investment - £15 million over 5 years - covers five crop types, including wheat. The GINs have already successfully identified genetic traits to improve resilience to climate change and common pests and diseases; and the programme is working closely with breeders to incorporate these traits into UK crop varieties.

On 25 February the legislation needed to implement the Precision Breeding Act for plants in England was laid in Parliament and through a new Farming Innovation Programme thematic competition, we have announced £12.5 million to help deliver the practical benefits of precision breeding technology to farmers. This will help transform the plant breeding sector, including potentially supporting more drought resilient cereals.