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Gordon Chapman-Fox

BRAVO: making UK crops more resilient

Protecting the UK’s most valuable crops by making them more resilient is at the heart of a new five-year project, in which the University of Warwick’s School of Life Sciences will play a key role. The Brassica, Rapeseed and Vegetable Optimisation (BRAVO) project, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), aims to […]

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Waitrose announces trial with FareShare FoodCloud to redistribute surplus food

Waitrose’s commitment to reduce food waste sees it launch a trial with FareShare FoodCloud today. The charity food redistribution programme will make it easier for branches to let local charities know of surplus goods. Shops simply input details of available food into an app and connected charities receive a text alert when items are ready […]

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Global innovators join forces to answer agri-food challenges

The Rothamsted Open Innovation Forum (ROIF), which will be held from 18-20 January, is attracting industry leaders from around the world to try and provide solutions to global food challenges. “It’s clear from the range of pre-competitive pitches we’ve received that the breadth of topics the forum will cover will be extremely broad,” says Chris […]

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UK’s post-Brexit farm policy could see reintroduction of border controls in Ireland

The latest briefing paper from University of Reading Emeritus Professor Alan Swinbank suggests that while Brexit offers the UK an opportunity to design a more efficient agricultural policy that would benefit farmers and the environment, this new policy could have possible implications for consumer prices and will have to conform to World Trade Organization (WTO) […]

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Can the ‘greening’ be greener?

The EU introduced the new “greening” instrument into the Common Agricultural Policy in 2015, with the intention to slow the rapid loss of biodiversity in agricultural areas. The idea is quite simple: in return to the subsidies they receive, farmers must now implement measures to protect wild animals and plants on their land. A group […]

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Insects feel the heat: Scientists reveal rise in temperature affects ability to reproduce

With 2016 set to be the warmest year on record, scientists have discovered insects are already feeling the effects of climate change, as a rise in temperature is shown to damage their ability to reproduce. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Sheffield, found that being exposed to mild heat as a juvenile […]

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Worries about food waste appear to vanish when diners know scraps go to compost

Diners waste far less food when they’re schooled on the harm their leftovers can inflict on the environment. But if they know the food is going to be composted instead of dumped in a landfill, the educational benefit disappears. When composting enters the picture, educated diners waste just as much as those who haven’t learned […]

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Study provides evidence on movement of potato famine pathogen

New research from North Carolina State University (NC State; USA) delves into the movement and evolution of the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s, which set down roots in the United States before attacking Europe.

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Quarter of a million tonnes of food could be saved with better logistics

Each year, around 88 million tonnes of food is discarded in the EU. This is something that Kristina Liljestrand, researcher at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), wants to do something about. She is now giving companies in the food supply chain specific tools that can reduce both food waste and the environmental impact of food […]

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Mass insect migrations in UK skies

As Britain voted for Brexit amid furious debate over migration, trillions of migrants were coming and going, unseen by all but the sharpest eyes. For the first time, scientists have measured the movements of high-flying insects in the skies over southern England – and found that about 3.5 trillion migrate over the region every year.

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