Farming can help pull the economy out of recession said, National Farmers' Union President Peter Kendall.
he said farming was one of the biggest sectors in the economy, was not badly hurt by the economic crisis, and could benefit from increased exports across the food spectrum due to a weak pound.
Asked if farming could help drag Britain out of recession, Kendall said in a phone interview: "Yes. We (farming) can be a really important part of the recovery process -- if farms produce more raw materials for food production."
He added tax concessions for farming-related projects would give the economy a further boost.
"Give us the tax breaks. Let's build wind farms. Let's put solar panels on roofs. This will boost the construction industry, and puts us (farming) in a very good place."
Separately, Waitrose, the supermarkets chain belonging to the John Lewis Partnership, said Britain could suffer food shortages unless the numbers of skilled people entering the farm industry improved.
Waitrose managing director Mark Price told the NFU conference that the food industry needed to act immediately to stop the threat of losing skilled workers.
"Modern farming is a highly skilled operation requiring technical proficiency, business acumen and environmental awareness," he said.
"Well-qualified people are essential to its future prosperity. The average age of a farmer is 55 years and unless we can fill the skills gap, there's a real possibility that the British farmer and self-sufficiency might become a thing of the past."
Kendall said that while last year the country's gross domestic product fell by 1.8 percent, total income from farming rose 36 percent and farming's contribution to GDP climbed 38 percent.
Kendall urged farmers to produce more, and at the same time make less of an impact on the environment."That is the new agenda for farming. Producing more and impacting less," he said.
