Core Purpose Agricultural Work

In December 2007, the “Practice with Science” Advisory Group was formed, under the chairmanship of Sir Don Curry.  The purpose of the Group is to advise on year-round activity relating to the Royal Agricultural Society of England’s objective “to be the leading independent voice for agriculture and the rural economy”, based upon its commitment to “Practice with Science”.  In this, the Society wishes to enable an informed debate about farming, the environment and the rural economy, to act as a crucial bridge between knowledge and practice and to actively seek out ways of doing this.

During 2008, the Group has so far considered three key issues:

• Soil and water management;
• Plant breeding;
• Emissions from livestock.

A detailed report entitled “The Current Status of Soil and Water Management” is available here .

A summary report of the above is available here .

Against a background of reduced Government expenditure in research, the Group is also considering how to attract private investment into agricultural research and innovation for the future, and is likely to hold a seminar on the subject early in 2009.