Agricultural Industries Confederation's annual conference

EUROPE must ‘slow down’ on biofuels, or risk sending millions of people over the poverty line, warned the head of the Government’s biofuels watchdog.

Chief executive of the Renewable Fuels Agency Nick Goodall warned biofuels would have a major impact on global food prices, putting a further strain on people in developing countries.

He said up to 10.7 million people in India alone would be pushed over the poverty line as a result of the projected price increases.

“Its greatest effect will be in poorer countries where populations spend more as a proportion of their income on food than in developed countries.

“Poor people in these countries do not have a democratic say on the introduction of biofuel mandates and so some people do see this as a moral issue.”

In defence of farmers

NFU president Peter Kendall defended farmers’environmental stewardship record at the conference.

Responding to recent criticism of farmers over the decline of agri-environment schemes, he said UK farming was ‘not about production at all costs’ but farmers needed a balance between production and environment.

“There is a notion we don’t give a stuff about the environment but, in reality, production relies heavily on having a healthy environment.

“Farmers do care, but what we don’t want is to see measures put in place which cause us to reduce production. It will put farmers off environmental schemes and that is crazy,” he said.