Written by Edward Hill-King:  Today potatoes are regarded as the fourth most important crop in the world and stand as a staple of cuisines across the globe. But behind this abundant food is a long journey across continents and seas and a history as old as civilisation. Potatoes were first cultivated by humans in the Andean […]

Written by Patrick Skilleter.  The issues associated with compacted soil have been well known for many years now, and whilst efforts are made to reduce the amount of soil compaction and the chances of it forming, the problem continues to plague cropland. Understanding how compaction can occur on cropland, its effects, and how to use this […]

Written by: Alex Blomfield Butterflies are sensitive environmental indicators, making them vulnerable to habitat loss and environmental change. The ecological requirements of lepidoptera are relatively well documented, but in an increasingly fragmented landscape, species’ persistence is influenced not only by the provision of adult and larval resources, but by the spatial configuration of habitat patches. […]

Written by: Catherine Walsh Purely by accident, the plan for my PhD research has gained some highly exciting yet potentially controversial hypotheses to test. I am attributing this fresh development to a small extent to the ‘work from home’ policy adopted by Lancaster University during the pandemic but mainly to my supervisor, Dr Marj Lundgren […]

The events page has been updated with new 2016 and 2017 events. Please click here to view

We are please to announce that the next event is the suppliers technical conference which will be held at Warwick University Scarman House Conference Centre starting at 6pm on 11th November and 9am on 12th November 2015. There will be a drinks reception and themed dinner on the 11th and then a conference on 12th […]

The University of Reading has produced factsheets on pollinator management, covering a variety of topics such as food and shelter.  They were  presented at the recent Waitrose Science Day and are now available on the portal along with a recent video entitled “How to Save the Bees”.     The University of Reading page: University of […]

The FAO have released a new book this week, ” Coping with Climate Change”.  It is available for free on the link below. The key message is that genetic diversity is important to coping with climate change, and that more needs to be done to understand and utilise this diversity in food production. It warns […]

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has announced that 2015 is the International Year of Soils. This campaign aims to promote the importance of soils for a healthy ecosystem, improved rural livelihoods, and food security. The key messages are the various methods to protect our soils through sustainable soil and land management, and […]