CONFERENCES - PRESIDENT'S SEMINAR & AWARDS CEREMONY 2012

Presidents Seminar & Awards Ceremony 2012
Tuesday 28th February,
Royal Over-Seas League, London

"Knowing more is not enough. Application is the pay day for research".

"We don't get a symmetrical reaction to risk. We are more frightened of what we may lose than we are inspired by what we may gain". Professor Sir John Marsh

"This is the best assessment of the agricultural food situation I have read by a very long way." Philip Bolam, commenting on Sir John Marsh's National Agricultural Lecture

Hall of India at the Royal Over-Seas League

100 guests joined RASE for a successful President’s Seminar & Awards Ceremony hosted by President Sir Mike Tomlinson. Professor Sir John Marsh, as National Agricultural Award Winner, gave a typically thought-provoking National Agricultural Lecture whilst RASE Research Medal Winners Professor Keith Edwards and Professor James Brown spoke about wheat breeding and wheat disease.

The President’s Seminar was financially supported by BBSRC and the British Society of Plant Breeders.

Further information about the Seminar & Awards can be found below.

Testimonials

"I thoroughly enjoyed meeting many inspirational people and I came away from the RASE event with a sense of pride at belonging to such a fundamental industry". Dr Matt Kerton, Wheat Breeder, DSV United Kingdom Ltd.

“The presentations were all fascinating and gave us all an insight into the future development of wheat”. John Godfrey, Chairman, Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board.


Professor David Leaver - RASE "Practice with Science" Chairman	Professor James Brown - John Innes Centre

Professor Keith Edwards - Winner RASE Research Medal 2011	Professor Sir John Marsh receiving the National Agricultural Award 2011

For those who want greater detail the speakers’ presentations, together with a Press Release about the event, are shown below.

To view the press release, click here.

To view the programme, click here.

To view Sir John Marsh's Lecture, click here.

To view Sir John Marsh's presentation, click here.
To view Professor Keith Edward's presentation, click here.
To view Professor Keith Edward's talk, click here.
To view Dr Lydia Smith's presentation, click here.
To view Dr Paul Burrows presentation, click here.
To view Professor James Brown's presentation, click here.

There were a number of people who wished to ask questions of Sir John Marsh following his Lecture, but unfortunately time prevented these from being discussed on the day. We have included the questions, along with the relevant answers below.

What is your assessment of the geopolitical and economic consequences of China’s current policy to displace some 700,000 farmers, in terms of alternative private enterprise profitable work for them? - Professor John Wibberley

Thank you for the question. It does not get easier to answer as I think about it at greater length. There are some fairly straightforward outcomes:-

The rural population will age and those younger people who remain in the countryside are likely to be the less capable;
There will be a massive restructuring of the way in which land is farmed. In the modern China it may be that competitive forces are allowed to determine this. Given the concentration of wealth within China, this might have a substantially hard-nosed approach with large-scale businesses, with an international focus replacing the micro-businesses of the past;
The impact on output is critical. Present systems in many regions appear to be highly intensive, small-scale and labour-intensive. Maintaining output with larger units would require greater dependence on bought-in inputs – mechanical, chemical, biological and energy. That represents opportunities for the equivalent international industrial companies of the West to establish new markets and production facilities;

“I just hope that people in China are asking themselves the same question now – not when things get out of hand”

The ability to achieve this transformation depends, as your question implies, on finding new sources of income for the large number of displaced farmers. One sine qua non is that China continues on its trajectory of economic growth – with huge consequences for all the rest of the world. If that fails, the process could simply lead to massive dispersed unemployment with implicit hazards for the stability of the system;
If growth does take place, it will imply much more “urbanisation”. The cost of providing infrastructure for an industrial economy dispersed over a large area would make the outcome uncompetitive. The impact on social life of this process is not easy to assess without a deep understanding of Chinese culture. One suspects that it may have long-term political, economic and welfare consequences – especially if there emerges an urban underclass.

I am aware that this does not answer the question in any adequate manner. I just hope that people in China are asking themselves the same question now – not when things get out of hand.

Professor Sir John Marsh

Royal Agricultural Society of England