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Farming Today: 21/08/20 - Produce self-sufficiency in the UK, agricultural law and invasive stink bugs

21/08/20 - Produce self-sufficiency in the UK, agricultural law and invasive stink bugs

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 21/08/20 - Produce self-sufficiency in the UK, agricultural law and invasive stink bugs

The National Farmers' Union wants the UK to become more self-sufficient in produce.

The National Farmers' Union says it wants British farming to set a global benchmark in sustainable food production, by becoming more self-sufficient in terms of produce.

If the UK relied entirely on home-grown food for the whole year, today - according to the National Farmers' Union - is the date we would run out.
The nation’s food security has hovered at around 64% for a number of years: we currently grow 18% of the fruit we eat, 55% of fresh vegetables and 71% of potatoes.
Now, the NFU says we have an opportunity and a responsibility to grow more. Caz Graham asks NFU president Minette Batters, why that is.

Continuing Farming Today's week-long theme around less obvious farm-related jobs, Caz meets Sam McAlister: an agricultural solicitor who's co-founded an all-female law practice in north Cumbria, specialising in rural and farming issues.  

And a pungent invasive insect named the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug has been caught for the first time, in Essex.
Researchers studying the species - which feeds on fruit crops, amongst others - are investigating how much of a foothold the pest might have secured in Britain.
Caz finds out more from NIAB EMR's Dr Glen Powell.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Lucy Taylor.

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21/08/20 - Produce self-sufficiency in the UK, agricultural law and invasive stink bugs

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