SIR – The Government s Chief Scientist recently issued a warning that a combination of a burgeoning global population – many already malnourished – and the move towards a more meat-based diet in the poorer countries, means we ll need a step-change in agr

SIR - The Government's Chief Scientist recently issued a warning that a combination of a burgeoning global population - many already malnourished - and the move towards a more meat-based diet in the poorer countries, means we'll need "a step-change in agricultural production" over the next decade. Meanwhile, we in the UK are heavily dependent on food imports, perhaps uncertain in future and, partly as a result, there is an increasing interest in locally grown food.

So one may wonder why we are allowing a square mile of local Hertfordshire farmland to be removed from production by the Woodland Trust, covering it instead with trees. Would it not be sensible to leave at least half the land in agricultural production to help feed our future generations?

JOHN DAVIS,

Fairmead Avenue, Harpenden