The bosses of a dozen of the world’s largest food companies have formed a taskforce which aims to make regenerative farming approaches more accessible to farmers around the world.

As part of the initiative, launched late last week, the chief executives of McCain Foods, McDonald’s, Waitrose and Partners, Olam and PepsiCo produced a joint action plan detailing how to boost adoption of regenerative farming practices globally, in a bid to reduce the food system’s impacts on climate and biodiversity.

The prospect of gene-edited foods hitting supermarket shelves in Scotland has moved a step closer after SNP ministers relaxed their opposition provided scientists can demonstrate it is safe.

The SNP has long opposed genetic modification of food to protect the “clean, green brand of Scotland’s £15 billion food and drink industry”.

However, scientists have developed a process of gene editing which improves crops using their existing genetics, without introducing the foreign genes more commonly associated with genetic modification.

Air pollution 'threatens' methods of natural pest control undertaken by farmers to become more sustainable, researchers have warned.

When fields of oilseed rape are exposed to diesel exhaust – found in emissions from vehicles and industry – the number of parasitic insects available to control aphids drops significantly, according to a new study.

The team, led by scientists from the University of Reading, used special equipment to deliver controlled amounts of diesel exhaust and ozone to oilseed rape plants.

Sales of livestock veterinary antibiotics in the UK have more than halved since 2014 as farmers play their part in reducing antimicrobial resistance.

The government’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has confirmed sales of antibiotics for use in livestock were at the lowest ever recorded level, with a 55 per cent reduction since 2014. Antibiotic usage in turkeys, broilers and ducks was down 81 per cent, 72 per cent and 89 per cent respectively compared to 2014.

The UK remains one of the lowest users of antimicrobials in Europe and has achieved one of the biggest reductions in resistance, with VMD chief executive Abigail Seager putting the success down to the ’collaborative and voluntary approach’ UK farmers have taken.

China’s authoritarian Government is playing the long game on food security, stockpiling massive amounts of the world’s key staples.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, the country is on track to hold 69 per cent of the world’s corn reserves, 60 per cent of its rice and 51 per cent of its wheat by the end of this year.

Chinese customs data shows rice imports alone surged 53 per cent last year, while overseas purchases of wheat shot up by 50 per cent. Reports have suggested this aggressive stockpiling has been pushing up the price of global commodities at a time when food insecurity is on the rise.

In a laboratory in Norwich, scientists believe they are on the cusp of producing a banana that does not go brown. The lab is run by Tropic Biosciences, which is using genetic editing tools to create new varieties of important crops. In an era of climate change and climbing prices, these techniques could safeguard food supplies.

A new genetic technology bill that progressed to the House of Lords this week promises to allow researchers to break free from EU regulations that have so far blocked gene-edited organisms from being brought to the market.

British scientists are already working on drought-resistant wheat. Others hope to create chickens immune to bird flu.

A CUMBRIAN MP has pushed for an innovative new Bill to support farmers tackle environmental, animal welfare and food security challenges.

Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border, showed his support for an innovative new Genetic Technologies Bill designed to boost food production technologies, fight animal disease and support British farmers produce high-quality food to the best international standards.

Covering precision-bred plants and animals, the Genetic Technologies (Precision Breeding) Bill will introduce evidence-based regulations for the agricultural industry to develop crops and livestock that are more resilient against diseases, the effects of climate change and are less reliant on pesticides.

Food companies and governments must come together immediately to change the world’s agricultural practices or risk “destroying the planet”, according to the sponsors of a report by some of the largest food and farming businesses released on Thursday.

The report, from a taskforce within the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), a network of global CEOs focused on climate issues established by King Charles III, is being released days before the start of the United Nation’s Cop27 climate summit in Egypt.

Many of the world’s largest food and agricultural businesses have championed sustainable agricultural practices in recent years. Regenerative farming practices, which prioritize cutting greenhouse gas emissions, soil health and water conservation, now cover 15% of croplands.

A Bill that could spell the beginning of a new British era of precision breeding technologies, including gene editing, is edging closer to fruition, having now passed through the House of Lords.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) say that introducing a more proportionate and science-based regulatory system for precision-bred plants and animals will unlock opportunities to develop crops that are more resilient against disease and the effects of climate change like drought and flooding, and less reliant on pesticides.

The third Reading of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill happened on Monday (October 31) and was introduced in the House of Lords yesterday.

All poultry and captive birds in England must be kept indoors from 7 November under new restrictions to fight avian flu, the government has announced.

The housing order comes after turkey farmers warned of a shortage this Christmas caused by the country's largest ever bird flu outbreak. The British Poultry Council has said shoppers could be hit by price rises.

About 5.5m birds have now died or been culled since October 2021. That includes 2.3m birds this October alone. In total, more than 210 cases of bird flu have been confirmed since October 2021, including 80 confirmed cases in England this month.

Plant specimens collected on Captain Cook’s first expedition in 1768 are to be genetically analysed for traits that could be edited into today’s crops to make them more resilient to climate change and disease, i can reveal.

The samples will be investigated as part of a project to genetically sequence the Natural History Museum’s 8,000-specimin collection of grass crops and other plants going back 300 years – an analysis unprecedented in terms of volume and historical and geographical sweep.

It is hoped the exercise will identify helpful genetic properties that could lead to gene-edited wheat, resistant to deadly disease, being farmed in the UK within a decade.

New legislation seeking to unlock gene-editing technologies in order to boost UK food security will return to parliament today. The Third Reading of the Genetic Technology Bill is scheduled for Monday (31 October) and is expected to be introduced in the House of Lords the following day.

The government said the legislation, a major departure from EU policy, would introduce a "more proportionate and science-based regulatory system" for precision-bred plants and animals. For example, the bill would enable scientists to spearhead the development of crops that are more resilient against disease and the effects of climate change.

Defra farming minister Mark Spencer said British scientists were 'leading the world' in precision breeding, with the bill putting "Britain at the forefront of agri-research".