ORGANIC farmers and agri-research scientists should stop being strangers and start working together for the common good.

According to former head of the organic watchdog the Soil Association, Patrick Holden, the time is right for "a new chapter of collaboration" between the research and scientific community and advocates of sustainable agriculture.

Mr Holden, who is now chief executive of the Sustainable Food Trust, admitted: “These individuals and organisations, including myself, have been in part responsible for creating an impression that our advocacy is based on ideology and that we are resistant to making evidence-based decisions, which is certainly not the case today."

To put this right, he backed the suggestion that the two camps now work together to establish a joint strategy group presenting a united front to benefit both food production and the environment, an idea proposed by Rothamsted Research in the wake of the SFT's conference earlier this month in Wales – “Harmony in Food and Farming” – where Prince Charles provided the keynote address.

The attempt to broker peace also follows Defra secretary Michael Gove's announcement that future farm subsidies in the UK would be linked to environmental stewardship. As Mr Gove said: "Support can only be argued for ... if the environmental benefits of that spending are clear."

Mr Holden noted: “I could think of nothing more appropriate than the establishment of a small strategy group comprising representatives from research and sustainable agriculture leaders who could co-evolve a new programme of events and initiatives that bring together our two communities.”

Rothamsted’s director for science, innovation, engagement and partnerships, Angela Karp – who came up with the strategy group idea after attending the harmony conference – commented: “Our new five-year strategy promotes engagement and a commitment to productive and sustainable agriculture that protects the environment and benefits farmers and communities worldwide.

“Scientific enquiry is pursued to lead to a better understanding of how things work, and how best we can manage, improve, control and even manipulate them,” said Ms Karp. “For non-scientists, the danger is that they will selectively represent those findings that suit. This, in turn, can result in a breakdown of trust with those who generated the results and a lack of willingness to work together. We need joint ground rules and codes of behaviour that are strictly met if trust it is to be maintained.”