TAX breaks for landowners, investment in farming and low VAT on repairs to disused houses should be introduced to breathe new life into the rural economy.

The policies are part of a package of measures proposed by the Countryside Alliance to increase understanding of rural issues affecting areas like Devon and Cornwall and narrow the wealth gap between town and country.

It has targeted five key areas for reform, arguing for local solutions to the lack of affordable rural housing, support for British farmers and producers, the repeal the Hunting Act, and the creation of a reliable rural transport network.

Countryside Alliance chairman Kate Hoey MP commented: "Our countryside is a national treasure admired around the world. But it is also a home and workplace for millions of us.

"Yet those who live and work there can be forgiven for feeling at times that it does not receive the political support it deserves. In the 10 years since the alliance was formed, it has built its reputation around inspiring people. This manifesto flags up several key issues which truly matter to individuals and groups within rural communities.

"These are issues that genuinely affect peoples' lives in the countryside right now. They provoke passion, idealism, energy, anger and frustration.

"They put people on the street, inspire them to participate and ultimately drive them to vote in large numbers. Our aims are deliberately realistic and achievable. In these challenging times a vital, working and thriving countryside for the benefit of the whole nation is more necessary than ever."

The alliance's Rural Manifesto will be the focus of its campaigning up to the General Election.

One of the key proposals is the immediate reduction of VAT to 5 per cent for all repair, maintenance and home improvement work. It believes, on evidence from Europe, that could encourage nearly one million houses in rural areas back into use.

The alliance also called for tax incentives on land offered for affordable housing, investment in agricultural research and education, procurement of British produce to be made a priority for all public bodies and the adoption of a mandatory country of origin labelling.

The proposals were well received in the Westcountry, where problems facing the region's farmers and those trying to get on the housing ladder have been well documented.

Ian Johnson, spokesman for the National Farmers' Union in the South West, said they endorsed the proposals to support farming.

"There are a lot of people who supply, work for or provide services for farmers and if farming is not there, it would put a huge shadow across the rural economy as a whole," he said.

The industry was being affected by global "volatility", he explained, with farmers not knowing when crops were planted whether they would be profitable come harvest time. The weak pound meant exports had improved although some sectors were facing "downward pressure" on prices.

Mr Johnson added: "There is a lot of fear about the regulatory burden coming down from Europe which many see as totally unnecessary, but expensive, bureaucracy."

Among the Countryside Alliance's priorities is an overhaul of rural bus services. It said rural transport "must move up the political agenda otherwise talk of mitigating climate change through car reduction is totally meaningless".

It is calling for trial projects on fixed-route taxi and bus services and for railway branch lines to be reopened as "local franchises" where there is demand.

Tim Jones, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, said key issues, such as transport and affordable housing, had to be resolved if the "vitality" was to be returned to rural communities.

"A lot of people who retired to live in Devon and Cornwall, and who have been responsible for a lot of expenditure in those communities, are suffering badly," he said.

"They have seen incomes from savings and pensions decimated and that is where a lot of the pain is at the moment.

"The general sense is that the rural economy has actually held up pretty well and that it is not nearly as badly exposed as some of the big city centres."