Next steps for precision breeding

With secondary legislation that will implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 set to come before Parliament, a briefing hosted by Bayer and Niab provided a timely opportunity to consider what next steps are needed in order to maximise the benefit to the food and farming sector.

The briefing, held at the Oxford Farming Conference 2025 in January, brought together an influential panel of industry leaders comprising Defra chief scientific adviser Professor Gideon Henderson, Food Standards Agency chair Professor Susan Jebb, Thanet Earth technical director Robert James, Bayer Crop Science, Head of UK, Ireland & Nordics, Nils Bauer and Niab chief executive Professor Mario Caccamo.

Prof Henderson said the secondary legislation would support the Government’s growth, health and clean energy Missions, as well as supporting food security and delivering environmental benefits.

He said: “Precision breeding is an important technology within engineering biology, which is seen as a critical technology for UK growth.”

Plant breeding is already important to the UK economy, delivering close to £1 billion of additional value to the farming and food supply chain annually.

“The ability of precision breeding to accelerate that process offers tremendous potential for UK growth,” said Prof Henderson.

Precision breeding also has the potential to deliver crop varieties which benefit the environment, added Prof Henderson.

“We can make crop varieties that require fewer pesticides or herbicides, fewer nutrients, and which are more adapted to climate change and the drought and heat stress that will come as a consequence,” he said.

Prof Jebb underlined the need to foster consumer confidence in food products produced with new plant breeding technologies.

Prof Jebb said: “We know that innovation always does carry some risk, and ensuring consumer confidence in new products is essential to trust in the whole food system.

“The FSA will always put safety first, but we do need to take a proportionate approach, or we will stifle innovation, and that's the balance that we're trying to strike.

“To do that well, we need to understand new technologies so that we can judge the risk correctly. We also know that our regulatory systems need to evolve as the science develops.”

A new regulatory framework for Precision Bred Organisms (PBOs), accompanied by technical guidance for the plant breeding sector is due to be launched in the second half of this year.

Grower’s perspective

Providing a grower’s perspective, Robert James of Thanet Earth, a large-scale producer of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in Kent, suggested that the highly controlled production, packing and supply chain environments of the UK glasshouse sector provide an ideal space in which to explore precision bred crops.

Precision breeding would help tackle the significant and increasing challenges faced by UK producers, including escalating production costs, new pests and diseases, a diminishing crop protection toolkit and pollination challenges resulting from rising temperatures.

Mr James said: “If we do get the enabling legislation promised, and even if it is England-only, our sector would welcome being part of a joined-up conversation with stakeholders.

“We need to identify the risks we face currently, and in the future, and look at where precision breeding could support and add value.”

Underlining Bayer’s global commitment to innovation – underpinned by an annual R&D investment of €2.5 billion – UK managing director Nils Bauer shared news of how precision breeding is already advancing Bayer’s Short Stature Corn pipeline.

The first varieties of this higher yielding, more resilient maize, bred using conventional plant breeding, were launched in Spain last year and now precision breeding will be used to introduce further improvements for varieties for the Americas.

Climate change is posing huge challenges for crop production and ultimately food security, said Mr Bauer.

He said: “Precision breeding is a great opportunity to add another tool to the toolbox but we need as many tools as we can have and these could also be biological, chemical, or even digital tools.

“All of these tools are relevant, and they should be available to growers and producers in the right mix to ensure that we can continue to grow food in the right amount at an affordable price for society.

“These are exciting times, and I think the UK has a unique opportunity not only in precision breeding, but ultimately in leading the way in a science-based, open regulatory environment which will bring forward new agricultural technologies to boost agriculture.”

Welcoming Defra’s “clear timeline” for the implementing legislation and the strong emphasis on food security, Niab chief executive Prof Mario Caccamo said:

“This is the first time in decades that we have seen legislation that is looking to facilitate the use of new technology rather than restricting the use of technology.

“We believe that we have in our toolkit today the tools to be able to deliver improvements in terms of food production, protect the environment, reduce the impact of climate change, and in some cases adapt to some of the consequences of climate change.

“We have probably never been in the position as we are today, to make full use of those tools.”