GM TECHNOLOGY and animal cloning must not be ruled out of the fight to feed the world’s booming population, a major report said this week.

Leading experts on food security said new technologies would be key to increasing global food production while reducing environmental impact.

The Foresight Report on Food and Farming Futures was launched on Monday and headed by Prof Sir John Beddington, the UK’s chief scientist.

Caroline Spelman, Environment Secretary, vowed the UK would provide leadership in achieving global co-operation.

She said: “To fuel this revolution, we must open up global markets, boost global trade and make reforms that help the poorest.

“Trade restrictions must be avoided, especially at times of scarcity. We must manage price volatility by building trust and co-operation – and in particular by creating greater transparency around the true levels of food stocks.”

Mrs Spelman said the Government was in the process of formalising its position on GM, based on scientific evidence.

The world population is forecast to exceed nine billion by 2050 and the report examined what measures would be needed to produce sufficient food in the light of climate change and increasing scarcity of land, water and fossil fuels.

George Freeman MP, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture, welcomed its publication.

He backed its call for urgent investment in agricultural research. His allparty group last year highlighted the need for further funding following years of cutbacks.

Mr Freeman said: “The challenge of producing more food with fewer inputs is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century.

“As the world’s population continued to grow, it is creating levels of demand for increased food production from lower levels of inputs that could not have been envisioned 20 years ago.”

UK farmers could have a major role in helping to feed the world.

He said: “The UK enjoys natural advantages in terms of soil and climate, and has well-equipped, progressive and business-focused farmers, yet we currently import more than 40pc of our food – up from around 25pc 20 years ago.

“The NFU has warned that by 2030, one in every two meals could be imported unless domestic production increases.”

It is predicted that much of the world’s productive farmland will be lost over the next 40 years through water shortage, salinity and increased extreme weather.

Mr Freeman said countries less vulnerable to climate change, such as the UK, had particular responsibility to maximise their agricultural potential.

He supported the report’s call for urgency saying it can often take ten to 20 years to translate basic research into improved technologies, products and practices on-farm.

On new technologies, Mr Freeman said: “As policy-makers, we have responsibility to ensure that the regulation of agricultural science and technology, including controversial areas such as GM and cloning, is truly proportionate and evidence-based, responding to fact not fiction and fostering rather than stifling innovation.”

The potential of the UK’s agricultural science base generally, and for GM crops specifically, was incredibly exciting.

“Few people in this country realise that some of Britain’s research outlets are leading the world in agricultural biotechnology, and the positive impact this can have on our economic exports,” he said.

“We cannot allow hysterical, reactionary and unproven fears of GM technology to stand in the way of what is potentially a huge contributor towards re-balancing our nation’s economy and feeding the world.”