Farmers warned of abolition of agricultural subsidies | Environment | The Guardian

Farmers warned of abolition of agricultural subsidies | Environment | The Guardian: "The environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, will today call for fundamental reform of the European system of subsidies for farmers.

Landowners who take steps to protect the environment and enhance the countryside should get more rewards, Spelman will say, suggesting that there should be less reliance on giving Britain's farmers direct payments.

Addressing the three-day Oxford Farming Conference, which began yesterday, Spelman will tell farmers that rising global demand for food and increases in food prices make it possible to reduce subsidies and 'plan for their abolition'.

The subsidy system keeps food prices high, causing high tariffs that block cheap imports. Use of subsidies to export surplus food from the EU also damages production in developing countries. The distortion of trade caused by the common agricultural policy, or Cap, is 'morally wrong', Spelman says. The Cap, which governs subsidies across the EU, is to be reviewed, with a new scheme put in place by 2014."