It’s very interesting to hear the explanation of Andrew R.T. Davies about the work he’s doing in this area. As Huw Irranca-Davies and Andrew have pointed out, it is a way of maximising yield without the use of chemicals, and intelligently harnessing the power of nature. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, food production must increase by 60 per cent to be able to feed the world’s growing population. Big data is a powerful, evidence-based tool for long-term sustainable development by improving the economic opportunities for farmers, as well as the health of consumers.

We saw what happened in Zimbabwe, where critical levels of crop failure in 2013 put over 2 million people at risk of chronic malnutrition. Big data can help prevent those sorts of things from happening, both by foreseeing the weather conditions that produce that crop failure, but also mitigating and producing alternative ways of dealing with the problem. I’ve spoken many times about the horticulture trade deficit we have in the UK, and particularly in Wales, and this is one of the ways in which we could very efficiently become self-sufficient in horticulture, as well as using it as an export market.

I just want to focus on two countries that somewhat dominate the horticulture market, and have used big data very effectively. One of them is Chile, which is at the very southern end of South America. Its horticulture region is concentrated in the province of Valparaíso, from where more than two thirds of the country’s horticultural production is exported. Chile accounts for 50 per cent of the fruit exported from the southern hemisphere, and it is a relatively small country in terms of land mass. If you compare that with 1990, when their share was only 25 per cent, it’s now the No. 1 exporter of fruit in the southern hemisphere. So, there’s been an absolutely massive transformation of that industry. Worldwide, agriculture accounts for around 70 per cent of all fresh water use, but around 60 per cent, I understand, of this is wasted. So, by using big data to manage water effectively—. It was shown in Chile that by using irrigation researchers, they slashed their water use by 70 per cent in blueberry farming by using a network of wireless sensors. This is Chile’s third-largest fruit export, so, obviously, with massive savings like this, and two thirds of the world’s water extraction now being consumed by agriculture, smart water management systems won’t just be in demand, they’ll be absolutely essential.

The second country is much closer to home, in Holland, the Netherlands. It’s one of the world’s largest exporter of horticultural projects, and at some times of the year it’s supplying nearly all the fruit and vegetables for most of Europe. Holland has 44 per cent of the worldwide trade in flowers, but also, through the use of hydroponic greenhouses, accounts for 50 per cent of the value of all fruit and vegetables produced in Holland. They have used big data to boost their productivity and safeguard their crops from unpredictable climate. The use of these hydroponic greenhouses has massively increased their food production. They’ve used data to analyse and balance their soils, and made effective use of natural fertilisers, so that they’ve refined their farming techniques through a green revolution, rather than adding more and more commercial artificial fertilisers. It makes plants less vulnerable to soil degradation and unpredictable weather by using these very large greenhouses, which you can see if you fly over anywhere in Holland. It means that horticulturists have more control over the conditions, which allows them to drive efficiency, reduce waste and expand production beyond the natural seasons. These hydroponic greenhouses really do offer precision horticulture, which I feel we really ought to be able to replicate here in Britain.

So, I think this is a very important area that we need to be looking at, and I think that, having talked to the farming unions, their members are very open to new ideas, because they absolutely understand that change is on the way, inevitably, as a result of Brexit, and this is a really important and useful moment to give farmers the tools they need to diversify and to give them a guaranteed income.