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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential role of alternatives to fossil fuel dependent fertiliser in ensuring fertiliser availability for the agriculture sector.

Defra is committed to promoting the use of less environmentally damaging fertilisers and better nutrient use efficiency.

The efficient use of organic fertilisers can complement the use of mineral fertilisers, whilst reducing input costs. We know many farmers already use organic fertiliser to complement their nutrient management planning.

Given current fertiliser prices, a priority must be to pioneer new technologies to manufacture more organic-based fertiliser products in future and we will support the development of these through the Farming Innovation Programme. We are providing financial support to help farmers make best use of their manures and slurries, to complement inorganic fertilisers.

We must also look at alternatives to fertiliser, using techniques like nitrogen fixing legumes and clovers. We have therefore announced that the Government will pay farmers, through the Sustainable Farming Incentive, to help them with the costs of sowing nitrogen fixing plants and green manures in their crops - or in advance of their crops - to complement some of their fertiliser requirements.

We aim to streamline current regulation and implement a conformity assessment framework for fertilisers which will valorise fertilisers made from waste materials and provide farmers with a wider choice of more sustainable fertilisers.