Welcome to Waitrose CTP Cohort 1
Waitrose CTP welcomed its first cohort of students at the end of October for a 3 day Induction Training Event. This was held at the scenic venue of Forrest Hills at Lancaster University.
Filling the intercropping info gap
Two crops or one? Sometimes, growing two crops simultaneously on the same piece of land – called intercropping – can benefit farmers. But it needs careful planning and resource management. In some parts of Africa, farmers intercrop sorghum – a grain – and peanuts. But they face a major information gap. There hasn’t been much […]
NIAB EMR expands fruit quality and development research programme
UK horticultural crop research organisation NIAB EMR has appointed Dr Andrew Simkin to lead its emerging fruit quality and development research programme. Dr Simkin will be expanding NIAB EMR’s capabilities in fruit quality research in perennial and annual horticultural crops, tackling the challenge of improving the flavour and health benefits associated with fruit consumption. He […]
The global nitrate time-bomb
Researchers have quantified for the first time the long term threat to global drinking water posed by agricultural pollution trapped in the rocks beneath our feet. In a paper published in Nature Communications, researchers from the British Geological Survey (BGS) and Lancaster University show that vast quantities of nitrate are stored in the rocky layer between our soils and […]
Sensors applied to plant leaves warn of water shortage
Forgot to water that plant on your desk again? It may soon be able to send out an SOS. Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, USA) have created sensors that can be printed onto plant leaves and reveal when the plants are experiencing a water shortage. This kind of technology could not only […]
UK backs neonics ban
In a government statement today, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, says the UK supports further restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids because of their effects on bees and other pollinators. The announcement, says the statement, follows advice in October from the UK government’s advisory body on pesticides, the Expert Committee on […]
Why plants form sprouts in the dark
A signal from the cell wall decides that, in the dark, seeds grow into long yellow sprouts, instead of turning green and forming leaves. The signal that switches on the darkness programme in seedling development has not hitherto been identified. Earlier studies had shown that these processes involve photoreceptors inside plant cells. One vital signal […]
Help the James Hutton Institute shape the future of soft fruit research
Did you know products developed at the James Hutton Institute and its forebears are familiar names on supermarket shelves, including popular raspberry varieties such as Glen Ample and Glen Lyon? Also, were you aware of the fact that 50% of the world’s blackcurrant crop was developed by scientists in Dundee? Now you have a chance […]
Swapping where crops are grown could feed an extra 825 million people
Redrawing the global map of crop distribution on existing farmland could help meet growing demand for food and biofuels in coming decades, while significantly reducing water stress in agricultural areas, according to a new study. Published today in Nature Geoscience, the study is the first to attempt to address both food production needs and resource sustainability […]
Applications open for 2018 NIAB Faculty Fellowship
For early career researchers spanning plant and crop science and those in aligned areas such as pathology, entomology, bioinformatics, engineering and robotics: NIAB wishes to support outstanding early career researchers in applications for independent research fellowship such as: BBSRC David Phillips Fellowships BBSRC Future Leader Fellowships NERC Independent Research Fellowships Royal Society University Research Fellowships
