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

To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to (1) farmers, and (2) growers, to tackle the problem of blackgrass in England and the resultant loss of wheat yield.

Defra supports farmers and growers to tackle pests, diseases and weeds (such as blackgrass) by encouraging the uptake of integrated pest management (IPM). IPM approaches can reduce the risk of pesticide resistance by diversifying the tools used. From this year, the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme will provide payments to farmers who incorporate IPM actions into their farming practices. Our proposals to further support the uptake of IPM will be detailed in our National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides to be published this year.

Through the Farming innovation Programme and other R&D programmes, Defra has also supported projects to develop sustainable methods for the treatment of blackgrass, to provide an alternative method of husbandry to spraying with herbicides. The projects have focused on the development of environmentally sensitive mechanical weed control systems for use across arable farms in the UK. Innovations like this will continue to optimise crop production and longer-term soil quality.