Most potatoes require 200ml of rain or other water and this year they’ve had about 35ml. It’s also been incredibly warm. Potatoes don’t bulk up above 28°C. I think we’ve had 40 days above that."
Probably possible to genetically-engineer potatoes that can deal with drought better, given time and work.
The EU has historically had a pretty anti-genetic-engineering position, but (a) I understand that things have been slowly changing there in EU politics and (b) I don’t know whether Brexit and the TCA permit for broader use in the UK regardless.
searches
From this Telegraph article, it sounds like the UK and EU are currently negotiating terms (that is, apparently this isn’t gonna depend on the TCA), so all this is gonna be in a state of flux, but it gives me the impression that gene-editing, a slightly-restricted form of genetic engineering, may be getting the thumbs-up.
British and European negotiators are close to a deal that would save UK gene-edited crops from an EU ban.
Britain used Brexit freedoms to pioneer the crops, which are more resistant to drought and disease.
In an important breakthrough, two British farmers became the first in Europe to grow and harvest gene-edited crops in commercial field conditions this summer.
And on irrigation:
Back in Helmsley, Tim Rooke wants changes to planning laws to make it easier to build and run water storage lagoons, capturing winter rain and using it in the summer.
Even aside from that, my understanding from past reading is that the UK is now building some of the first new reservoir capacity in decades, so there is action there.
The areas new reservoirs will be finished first – and why they take so long to build
The UK is only just building its first reservoir in 30 years, with a further nine still years off construction
The nine reservoirs are planned across Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Kent, East Sussex and the West Midlands.
Some are further along than others. The White Horse reservoir, near Abingdon in Oxfordshire, and the Fens reservoir, near Cambridge, are the most advanced, though both remain in the planning and design stage, with White Horse expected to be completed by 2040 and the Fens by 2036.
Probably possible to genetically-engineer potatoes that can deal with drought better, given time and work.
The EU has historically had a pretty anti-genetic-engineering position, but (a) I understand that things have been slowly changing there in EU politics and (b) I don’t know whether Brexit and the TCA permit for broader use in the UK regardless.
searches
From this Telegraph article, it sounds like the UK and EU are currently negotiating terms (that is, apparently this isn’t gonna depend on the TCA), so all this is gonna be in a state of flux, but it gives me the impression that gene-editing, a slightly-restricted form of genetic engineering, may be getting the thumbs-up.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10/01/uk-gene-edited-crops-to-be-spared-from-brussels-ban/
And on irrigation:
Even aside from that, my understanding from past reading is that the UK is now building some of the first new reservoir capacity in decades, so there is action there.
searches
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/areas-new-reservoirs-finished-first-why-long-build-4700022