MARGARET Beckett, the minister in charge of DEFRA, this week outlined her vision for the future of farming in Britain based on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Speaking at an RSPB conference, Mrs Beckett described CAP market support and direct payments as "very blunt, inefficient, and ineffective instruments," "outdated mechanisms that should be phased out," and "artificial incentives to intensify agriculture."

Mrs Beckett said her new ministry, the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs, was seeking to promote "a new approach to the countryside."

"This means not just viewing agriculture in terms of its economic contribution, but recognising its role as guardian of three quarters of our land and bedrock of rural communities," she said.

She called for a more innovative approach to diversification and cited the growing of energy crops and enhancing biodiversity to promote tourism as examples and said she saw the organic sector as "an important element of our new approach."

But the central plank of her 'vision' for British farming was further reform of CAP payments away from production support towards environmentally sensitive schemes.

She offered some reassurance that the Government was committed to British farming by saying: "In the trauma of recent events we have heard concerns about whether UK farming has a future, let alone a strong and prosperous one.

Let me say loud and clear that we are committed to facilitating the development of competitive and diverse food industries," she said.

Addressing Mrs Becket at the 'Where Next for European Agriculture' conference in London on Wednesday, NFU Vice President Michael Paske said: "Practical solutions not 'pie in the sky' ideals are needed to take the agenda forward.

"Britain's farmers and growers want to make a decent living from what they produce in a market that is not distorted beyond recognition by an antiquated support system," he said.

He accepted the need for support to reflect the growing demand for environmental work and standards, but said: "Agriculture must be able to produce quality food competitively as well as invest in the environment.

The balance between the two needs to be found."

Any switch in European support from production to the environment, he said, would need to be carried out sensitively.

"If farmers are burdened with more and more regulation they will not be able to meet the needs of the market.

They will then be even more dependent on public funds to survive - something which I regard as being truly unsustainable."