Speaking at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London on 22 September, Morgan said the government was focused on protecting the regulatory environment that has allowed the UK to move ahead in areas including precision breeding, despite plans for closer alignment with EU food and agricultural rules.
“We recognise that we have great strength in research and development on genetics in the UK and we are focused on preserving the UK’s innovative regulations in the SPS agreement,” Morgan told delegates.
While stressing that the details remained subject to negotiation, he added: “Under the agreement we will continue to set our own rules for research and development and, most importantly, continue to have proportionate and science-based regulations for field trials of plants developed through biotechnology.”
The comments address an important question for the UK’s agricultural biotechnology sector as the government pursues an SPS agreement with Brussels: how far closer alignment with EU rules could constrain the UK’s ability to operate differentiated regulatory frameworks in areas where it has sought to encourage emerging technologies.
Morgan’s message was that the government intends to combine closer relations with the EU with maintaining regulatory conditions intended to support agricultural innovation.
Precision breeding as a UK advantage
Precision breeding was held up as a prime example of the government’s approach.
Morgan said 37 gene-edited crops had been released for research and development trials since 2022, while six crops had been confirmed by Defra as precision bred for marketing in England since November 2025.
These include tomatoes with higher vitamin D content, high-lipid barley designed to reduce methane emissions from cattle and strawberries offering an extended harvesting period.
The government has also funded a £12.5 million precision breeding programme supporting crops offering improved productivity, disease resistance and drought tolerance. Projects include sugar beet resistant to Virus Yellows, UK hop varieties better able to withstand climate change and dandelions that can produce natural rubber more efficiently.
“This work is world leading,” Morgan said, arguing that the progress demonstrated Britain’s capabilities in crop breeding and agricultural science.
£123m innovation push
The pledge on regulation forms part of a broader government effort to increase agricultural productivity by speeding the development, testing and commercialisation of new technology.
Morgan said Defra has committed £123 million this year to improving productivity, trialling new technologies and driving agricultural innovation.
Areas targeted include precision agriculture, automation and robotics, advanced genetics, soil management and smarter water use.
Defra’s ADOPT fund is intended to ensure technologies are tested under real farming conditions, while Innovate UK’s AgriScale initiative is designed to help companies move promising technologies towards commercialisation.
The 2026/27 AgriScale programme includes an £8 million Experimental Development round aimed at manufacturing scale-up projects and a £5 million Industrial Research round targeting technology gaps.
The government is also looking to tackle regulatory obstacles beyond biotechnology. Following a review of agri-tech regulation, Morgan said it will launch a Central Hub to help SMEs navigate regulations and standards and is working with industry to provide greater clarity around the regulatory environment for agricultural robotics.
‘UK is open for business’
Morgan presented these measures as part of the government’s wider Farming Roadmap, which sets out its ambitions for British agriculture through to 2050 and puts productivity, profitability and resilience at its centre.
He argued that technologies ranging from precision application and autonomous machinery to advanced sensors and artificial intelligence could allow farmers to lower input costs, increase productivity and respond to labour, environmental and climate pressures.
But his pitch was aimed as much at technology developers and investors as farmers.
“The UK is open for business,” Morgan said. “I urge innovators, researchers and investors to make the UK the partner of choice and work with our farmers to develop the technologies that will transform farming, boost productivity and secure our future.”
