British Farming

Part of The Secretary of State Was Asked – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 5 May 2016.

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Photo of George Eustice George Eustice The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 12:00, 5 May 2016

Data and technology have a central role to play in increasing the productivity and competitiveness of British farming. Last October, I launched the first of our agri-tech centres of excellence, the agrimetric centre at Rothamsted. They will develop new software models to improve our ability to understand and utilise the huge volume of data that exist. In addition, we are on track to open up 8,000 data sets to the public, which can help food and farming to achieve its potential.

Secretary of State

Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.