Partner News: September

Rothamsted scientists identify growing threat to cereal crops 

Scientists at the Rothamsted Research have identified a growing threat from the grain aphid (Sitobion avenae), a major crop pest that can reduce farmers' yields by damaging cereal crops and spreading plant diseases, most notably the Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV).
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Sir David Baulcombe, Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, is the recipient of the 2012 Balzan Prize 

"For his fundamental contribution to the understanding of epigenetics and its role in cell and tissue development under normal and stressful conditions". The Prize will be presented during the award ceremony to be held in Rome on November 14.
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NIAB New flexible agri-food training programme launches at Livestock 2012 

The Advanced Training Partnership for Sustainable and Efficient Food Production (ATP Pasture) launched its flexible training programme at Livestock 2012 on the 4th September. The partnership consists of three institutions: the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Bangor University and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB).
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News: July

Partner News

NIAB-TAG: Soil management project to support sustainability

A four-year, £644,000 research project commissioned by the HGCA and carried out by the James Hutton Institute and NIAB TAG will establish best practice for the sustainable intensification of agricultural production. Key objectives are increased cereal yields for UK farmers and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
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John Innes Centre: Major investment to persuade bacteria to help cereals self-fertilise

The John Innes Centre will lead a $9.8m research project to investigate whether it is possible to initiate a symbiosis between cereal crops and bacteria. The symbiosis could help cereals access nitrogen from the air to improve yields. The five-year research project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, could have most immediate benefit for subsistence farmers.
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Anglia Farmers Limited (AF): Waitrose Farming Partnership - AF membership launched

Waitrose Farming Partnership – AF membership, is open to all Waitrose UK-based farmers, giving them access to significant savings on all farm supplies. Clarke Willis, CEO of the AF Group said: "This new initiative extends our range of professional buying services to members of the Waitrose Farming Partnership and provides a cost effective membership to farmers supplying Waitrose. We are able to provide procurement expertise and combine volumes to deliver significant savings on farm supplies and services and look forward to working with producers who are part of the Waitrose Farming Partnership to reduce their costs".
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General News

Bioenergy Strategy

Department of Energy and Climate Change has published a bioenergy strategy that sets out a framework for ensuring that biomass powering our homes, businesses and transport delivers benefits to businesses and consumers in a drive to meet the UK's low carbon objectives.
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BBSRC NSF Ideas Lab: Nitrogen: improving on nature

BBSRC and NSF have launched a joint Ideas Lab and are particularly keen to have Chemists participate in a five-day Ideas Lab to develop innovative and transformative ways to reduce inputs of nitrogen fertilizers to non-leguminous crops whilst maintaining or increasing yield, through a multidisciplinary approach.
The Ideas Lab will develop outline proposals that will subsequently be developed into full proposals and submitted for consideration by the funding agencies and a team of mentors. Successful proposals developed through the Ideas Lab will be jointly funded by BBSRC and NSF, and up to $12M ($6M or equivalent each from the US and the UK) is available subject to proposals.
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News: June 2012

Partner News

Rothamsted Research: Providing solutions for food security - Rothamsted Research launches "20:20 Wheat ®"

Scientists at Rothamsted Research have launched a new 20:20 Wheat ® Programme at the UK Cereals 2012 event on 13 June, aiming to provide the knowledge base and tools to increase potential wheat yields in the UK to 20 tonnes per hectare within the next 20 years. It is hoped that this could bring significant economic benefit to UK farmers as every 1 tonne per hectare increase in yield is estimated to be worth £318M per year at the farm gate.

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Partner News

UK PlantSci 2012 Talks now online

Did you miss out on the inagural UK Plant Sciences Federation conference, UK PlantSci 2012? If so don't worry many of the talks are now available online.

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NATIONAL PLANT PHENOMICS CENTRE

On Monday 14 May 2012, the new National Plant Phenomics Centre, which features the most advanced research greenhouse in the UK, was formally opened at Aberystwyth University's Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences. The new Centre is a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) supported national facility and has been developed at a cost of £6.8M.

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MINISTER ANNOUNCES £250M FUNDING FOR THE UK’S BIOSCIENCE

On May 24th, during a visit to the Babraham Research Campus, near Cambridge, Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, has announced substantial funding that will ensure the UK's bioscience research base remains globally competitive and at the forefront of meeting the grand challenges faced by society in the coming decades.

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NEW WEBSITE TO SUPPORT WHEAT RESEARCH

A new wheat research information resource was launched on 18th June in a bid to help coordinate worldwide research efforts in the fields of wheat genetics, genomics, physiology, breeding and agronomy. The new website provides a central hub for the Wheat Initiative which aims to coordinate wheat research programmes and contribute to food security across the globe.

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Partner news: May 2012

Science and industry club together to deliver better crops

Three CPPS members have new industry-relevant crop science projects funded as part of the Crop Improvement Research Club (CIRC)

The research is aimed at delivering improvements to the main UK cereal crops - oilseed rape, barley and wheat - so boosting efforts to ensure food security. Nine projects were funded overall - together, they represent an investment of over £4M by BBSRC, the Scottish Government and 14 companies including plant breeders, farmers and food processors.

The three projects by CPPS members are:

• Professor Andy Greenland, NIAB - Production of wheat lacking B-type starch granules
• Professor Peter Shewry, Rothamsted Research - The role of lipids in determining gas bubble retention in wheat dough
• Dr Richard Whalley, Rothamsted Research - Phenotyping root function in wheat

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JOHN INNES CENTRE: Fine mapping wheat genes

Researchers at the John Innes Centre have shown how next generation sequencing techniques can be used in mapping genes more quickly and efficiently than has been possible before.
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ROTHAMSTED RESEARCH: Launch of globally unique farm research platform

A new 'Farm Platform', launched at Rothamsted Research North Wyke in Devon, aims to help farmers to optimise productivity in ways that are sustainable, whilst at the same time understanding the impact of farming methods on the environment. It will bring together scientists from across disciplines and countries to spark new ideas to meet the food security challenge.
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RREs: Plant perfumes woo beneficial bacterial

Scientists at Rothamsted Research have discovered that maize crops emit chemical signals which attract growth-promoting microbes to live amongst their roots. This is the first chemical signal that has been shown to attract beneficial bacteria to the maize root environment. By deepening our understanding of how cereals interact with microorganisms in the soil their research aims to contribute to ongoing efforts to increase cereal yields sustainably to feed a growing world population.
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RRes: Attack on Aphid-resistant wheat trial

An intruder attempted to break into RREs experimental trial on Sunday, 20th May, causing property damage but failing to disrupt the experiment. The individual responsible has been arrested and charged by Police.
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Partner News April 2012

British Society of Plant Breeders £50,000 donation to transform farmers' lives in Kenya

The British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) is donating £50,000 to FARM-Africa to support a two-year project in Kenya. The project will work with 1500 local farmers to improve the quality and supply of drought tolerant seeds. This in turn will boost local food security and the incomes for farmers’ families, benefitting 9000 people.

BSPB chief executive Dr Penny Maplestone explained that the decision to support the project was made possible by the success of last year’s International Seed Federation (ISF) World Seed Congress, which was hosted by BSPB in Belfast.

"The ISF World Seed Congress 2011 offered a unique opportunity to welcome the world's seed industry to the UK, and the record attendance in Belfast reflects a growing recognition that innovation in the plant breeding and seeds sector will be a key factor in addressing the global challenges of food security and climate change. We are therefore delighted that surplus revenue from the Congress has enabled BSPB to support the vital work of FARM-Africa in helping smallholder farmers to access the benefits of improved varieties and better quality seeds," said Dr Maplestone.

Read the full story at www.bspb.co.uk/newsarticle_2012_farmafrica.html.

Rothamsted Research: Aphid-resistant wheat trial begins

Scientists from Rothamsted Research are conducting a controlled experiment, combining modern genetic engineering with their knowledge of natural plant defences, to test whether wheat that can repel aphids works in a farm setting. Aphids are unwelcome visitors that drain sap from plants. They cause significant damage to agriculture and reduce farmers' yields by damaging crops and spreading plant diseases.

Prof Maurice Moloney, Head of Rothamsted Research, says: "This is a critical experiment to begin Rothamsted's investigation of second generation GM technologies which focus upon naturally occurring deterrents of pests and diseases. We believe that using GM as a tool to emulate natural defence mechanisms provides a unique and world-leading approach that will also benefit the environment."

Read the full story at http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/Content.php?Section=AphidWheat.