Our farmers must increase production

WE are all aware of the increases in fuel for our vehicles and heating due to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. Food increases are bound to follow, since Russia and Ukraine are probably the main suppliers of wheat in the world.

Due to sanctions, Russian wheat will be off the menu for the foreseeable future and Ukrainian wheat supplies will be heavily curtailed due to the war in that country, particularly if Ukraine is unable to sow and reap its grain due to the war.

If Odesa falls to Putin’s mob, Ukraine will have no port from which to export its grain in any case. OK, the West will suffer food price increases as a result of this prospect but the poorer countries of the world, particularly in Africa and other Middle Eastern countries, will suffer to a greater extent and will probably be faced with food riots, leading to even greater destabilisation than at present.

It won’t solve the immediate situation even at this late hour but this government must give every incentive to our farming communities to increase home food production and have a moratorium on ‘rewilding of productive agricultural land.

It doesn’t help either that farmers are being paid less for their milk than five years ago, thanks to the ‘middle men’ of the dairy industry. No wonder so many farms are being sold off to solar panel companies, and who can blame them in the circumstances?

‘Action this Day’ was a favourite saying by Churchill to deal with an urgent situation.

This government would be wise to heed his words unless we have to start digging up our parks to provide food for the nation like we did during the last war.

Many of us have been warning for years about our reliance on Putin’s Russia for ‘cheap energy’ to little avail on the ‘deaf ears’ of government. It seems the chickens are coming home to roost.

On the bright side, now is the time for Britons to cut down on food waste to counteract the situation, and who knows – it could do wonders for the waistline and the pocket? And save a fortune for the NHS.

Unless this government gets a grip of the upcoming situation with regard adequate food and energy supplies, as President Ronald Reagan once said, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Edward Kynaston Lydney, Gloucestershire