Asked by: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of Grade 1 and 2 lowland peat is let on annual farm business tenancies; and what steps they are taking to ensure this land is not being farmed in a manner that is accelerating its degradation and threatening future food security.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Peat policy is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Defra does not have any data on the percentage of Grade 1 and 2 lowland peat let on annual farm business tenancies.
In the Environmental Improvement Plan, we said that we are committed to halting the degradation of our lowland peat soils which causes such significant harm to the environment.
We have also agreed to take forward action on all recommendations of the Lowland Agricultural Peat Task Force Chair's report, recognising the vital role that lowland peat soils play in producing food for our nation and supporting our rural economies.
We are currently funding approximately £12.5million on projects on paludiculture, local collaboration, and water management, as first steps towards a more sustainable future for lowland agricultural peat.
We are also developing a new England Peat Map that will help us identify areas for future intervention.
Asked by: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure there are no delays by the Animal and Plant Health Agency in processing applications for new seed varieties; and when they will determine the causes of the current backlog of applications so that in future new varieties are made available to UK growers in a timely manner.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The backlog of applications for variety listing following EU exit has now largely been resolved.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency and Defra are working closely with stakeholders to monitor the processes involved in variety listing and are currently instigating improvements and resilience in the system.
The UK authorities are working together to develop the first UK Plant Variety and Seeds strategy. Following a Call for Ideas and further industry engagement, additional improvements in the plant variety listing process are anticipated.