THE United Nations is backing a Yorkshire farm which is growing and developing crops to replace conventional fuels.

Clifford Spencer, a Driffield farmer and international expert on non-food crops, has had two days of meetings in New York with the heads of the UN's development programme, environment programme and the department of economic and social affairs.

The managing director of Springdale Crop Synergies at Rudston, near Driffield, Mr Spencer has growing contacts with governments around the world.

The talks concentrated on the potential of "growing" oils from specific crops, which could then be used for bio-fuels, or to replace conventional oil-derived products used to create pharmaceuticals, medicines, cosmetics, fabrics and plastics.

Crops like crambe and oilseed rape require the same growing conditions as wheat or other arable crops; and most do not require any specialist equipment.

A partnership between the UN, Springdale and its American partner Seeds Group to expand the amount of non-food crops grown around the world will now go ahead.

Springdale is recognised as being at the hub of a green revolution sweeping through farming. It grows oil-seed and fibre crops, specialising in producing high-quality oils and products which are sold on to chemical companies worldwide.

Mr Spencer's visit highlights the international interest in finding an alternative to mineral oils. "Nations are becoming interested in non-food crops as mineral oil stocks are depleted and become more expensive owing to political instability," he said.

Springdale has signed agreements with hundreds of UK farmers to grow non-food crops, which also gives them some diversification.

The business is now a global concern, with interest from the heads of governments across the world. Before his trip to the UN last week, Mr Spencer had just returned from a visit to South America.

"The technology required to process oil crops is relatively simple and I would like to see farmers working in partnership to develop local processing plants," he said.

"Other countries have recognised that these are the crops of the future. We've had to obtain the hemp insulation for our buildings from Germany. The demand is there; now we have to find the farmers to meet it."

Mr Spencer also chairs the farming group Framework For Change, the partnership between the farming, food and public sector organisations which is delivering the Government's Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food.