Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many soil research projects have been completed for which it has provided funding, and how the findings were translated into practical measures that could be applied at farm level, in each year since 1997.
Since 1997, Defra and its predecessors have funded 445 soil research projects, the findings of which are translated into practical measures that can be applied at farm level in a number of ways, including testing of measures as part of the research, reviews of the evidence base feeding into the development of farmer guidance or direct knowledge transfer as part of the research project.
The table below denotes the number of completed soil research projects funded by Defra and its predecessors in each year since 1997:
1997 | 40 |
1998 | 44 |
1999 | 26 |
2000 | 28 |
2001 | 34 |
2002 | 22 |
2003 | 26 |
2004 | 21 |
2005 | 18 |
2006 | 29 |
2007 | 15 |
2008 | 23 |
2009 | 24 |
2010 | 29 |
2011 | 17 |
2012 | 18 |
2013 | 12 |
2014 | 10 |
2015 | 9 |
In addition since 2005-6, the first year for which data is available, Research Councils have funded 614 soil research projects.
The table below denotes the number of soil research projects funded by the Research Councils that have completed, by financial year, going back to 2005-06. Data for before that year is not available as the information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
2005-6 | 59 |
2006-7 | 62 |
2007-8 | 92 |
2008-9 | 57 |
2009-10 | 68 |
2010-11 | 82 |
2011-12 | 70 |
2012-13 | 26 |
2013-14 | 45 |
2014-15 | 29 |
2015-16 | 24 |