Wednesday 14th November, 7:30 pm

Impact of climate change on farming and food production – are we facing a perfect storm?

A talk by Andrew Davis (Writer of the well-known farming column and Country Matters articles for the Newbury Weekly News and Senior Lecturer at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester )

A good audience of about 40 heard Andrew present on the Impact of climate change on farming and food production.  In particular he discussed the prediction of a ‘perfect storm’ whereby the rapid growth of the world’s population to 9 Billion, the reduction in crop production due to desertification and losses due to extreme weather, plus unavailability (due to cost) of fossil-fuel derived fertilisers and shortage of water all come together to produce a food crisis of unbelievable proportions. It makes it essential that in the UK, where so much of our food is imported, we should more than double our food production. And that is possible through a number of major actions including a considered and careful use of GM foods, a much better understanding of soil science (through research), and better capture of rain-water when we get the major storms that we now often experience.