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Welcome to the Autumn 2020 edition of NIAB Focus - our regular round-up of research, news, events and solutions from the UK's leading crop science organisation

NIAB Focus - Autumn 2020

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Over the past few years NIAB has undergone many changes and developments, not only in staff and infrastructure, but also its activities. These developments demonstrate NIAB’s continuing commitment to the future of the agricultural and horticultural sectors and, with the lack of face-to-face events and activities this year where we normally catch-up, this article aims to keep our members and supporters updated on NIAB’s current actions and future plans, writes NIAB Technical Director Bill Clark.

NIAB has welcomed The Morley Agricultural Foundation's first fully-funded PhD student, who will be based at NIAB's Cambridge site with regular visits to TMAF in Norfolk.

Harvey Armstrong will be studying the effects of legume rotations on soil microbial populations - involving field sampling, molecular biology and computational studies. This inaugural studentship ties in with TMAF’s long-term interests in soil quality.

Potato growing and supply: reset post COVID and Brexit
15^th-16^th December 2020
2-day ticket: CUPGRA members £60, non-members £80

PROGRAMME

Since 2013 NIAB TAG members have provided us with information about winter oilseed rape (WOSR) crops across the UK, especially damage from Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle (CSFB), which has fed into the NIAB TAG Agronomy Strategy documents and other publications and advice. For the first time last year we linked this to monitoring of the Flea Beetle invasion.

The partnership between NIAB EMR and ABACO, Europe’s leading provider of software solutions for land resource management, will focus on developing a digital platform that optimises the delivery of information and the application of data-driven technologies.

An international research team, including crop scientists from NIAB, genetically characterised nearly 80,000 samples of wheat from the germplasm banks of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).

UPDATED: NOW ONLINE

This was initially advertised as a seminar in London, due to COVID-19,  it's now been moved to an online seminar, amended details are below.

Co-ordinated by NIAB and supported by off-patent crop protection manufacturer Life Scientific, it is hoped that the information provided from samples submitted will provide an updated picture of wild oat herbicide resistance, and also a general picture of where we are with wild-oats currently across the UK, says NIAB’s weed biology specialist, John Cussans.

There are two species of wild oats that are weeds in the UK – the common wild oat and the winter wild oat.

Researchers have developed a new tool to carry out one of agriculture’s more challenging tasks - seed germination testing.

Growers need seeds that germinate effectively and uniformly within a given period to maximise crop productivity. Seed suppliers must therefore test seed samples to ensure a certain germination rate is met, a process that is difficult and time consuming.