Non-food
Agricultural crops are traditionally grown to supply food and animal feed markets but increasingly plants are providing raw materials for use in applications such as lubricants, surfactants, solvents, car parts and high value products for the health care and beauty industries. These market driven applications are providing new outlets for some of the UK's traditional agricultural crops, opening up market opportunities for by-products and even introducing novel or alternative crops. These developments are largely being driven by environmental concerns and government targets for sustainable development.
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Honesty - can be used to produce high- temperature lubricants, engineering nylons, and some pharmaceutical preparations |  |
Crambe - can be used to produce slip agents, plasticisers, lubricants and industrial nylons |
Strategy for non-food crops and uses
23 May 2007- Government response to 2 year progress report on non-food crops strategy
16 November 2006 - Two year progress report and summary of progress with each Strategy action published.
On 5 November 2004 Defra and DTI jointly published A strategy for non-food crops and uses - creating value from renewable materials aimed at increasing commercial opportunities, stimulating innovation, cutting waste and environmental damage, and protecting precious natural resources. Read more:
Forum
From 2001-2004 the Government-Industry Forum on Non-Food Uses of Crops (GIFNFC) provide strategic advice to government and industry on the development of non-food uses of crops. In particular it kept under review technological developments and market opportunities for non-food uses of crops and to make recommendations on policy affecting non-food uses of crops and on R&D priorities.
The Forum identified opportunities where non-food uses of crops can make an important contribution towards sustainable development, yet the opportunity has not substantially been taken up. Where progress had not occurred it examined why and formulated advice to Government that will help to accelerate development of the opportunity in the UK.
Since the closure of the Forum in September 2004 the role of providing strategic advice on non-food uses of crops has passed to the Strategy Group of the NNFCC.
The Forum issued three annual reports: 2002
report 
(967 KB), 2003 report
(389 KB) and 2004 report
(416 KB)
The government published its final
report on the response to the third (2004) annual report
(26 KB) in March 2005.
For further details of the NNFCC and its work, as well as past Forum papers, please visit www.nnfcc.co.uk.
National Non-Food Crops Centre
Awareness will be raised among industry, scientists and farmers of the
emerging non-food uses of crops by the National
Non-Food Crops Centre
(NNFCC), launched on 24 November 2003.
The York-based centre will provide a single, independent and authoritative source of information on the use and implementation of non-food crop products and technologies in the United Kingdom. The Centre will disseminate scientific and technical information on these issues as widely as possible in order to increase knowledge and understanding, to initiate and facilitate technology uptake and to meet the government’s and society’s wider objectives for sustainable development.
Research & other information
An online compendium of completed and ongoing research is available. In addition, research reports are available on this site.
Page last modified: 25 May 2007