Press release

KWS Granturismo, KWS Bravo, KWS Kampinos, KWS Temprano, Papageno and Rejko from KWS, alongside Promise, AYA and Duke from Limagrain, Justice from Grainseed Ltd, and Starlord and MAS 075B from Bright Seeds are new entrants on the 2025 Favourable First Choice List.

LID0720C from Grainseed, along with RGT Muxxeal and RGT Buxxton from RAGT and KWS Leto from KWS, have been added to the Favourable Second Choice List. KWS Temprano, KWS Leto, KWS Bravo, Rejko, Duke, Aya, MAS 075B and Starlord have also made it onto the First Choice List for Less Favourable sites.

Mark joins NIAB in early July and will lead the crop science organisation’s team of 20 agronomists and consultants who deliver technical and consultancy services across the country. He will oversee the translation of NIAB’s wide-ranging research programme, including member-funded agronomy trials, into on-farm advice to support productive, resilient, regenerative farming for members, customers and stakeholders.

Speaking at a Westminster Forum event today (17 June) entitled ‘Next steps for gene edited foods in England’, NIAB chief executive Professor Mario Caccamo explained that, after 10 months’ scrutiny and debate, both Houses of Parliament had approved the Precision Breeding Act in March 2023, providing the legal framework for a faster and more streamlined process to regulate the use of precision breeding techniques such as CRISPR gene editing in agriculture.

Dr Dougherty brings 30 years of scientific, operational and leadership experience in the UK research and innovation sector. He is currently the COO of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and has previously held similar roles at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the Royal Statistical Society.

The NIAB Vine Club will bridge the gap between viticulture plant science and practical application, ensuring members will be the first to benefit from emerging, innovative research.

For all visitors to NIAB at Cereals the winter wheat variety demonstration plots are the main highlight. This year there are 32 varieties either already established on the AHDB Recommended List or candidates, with differences in disease susceptibility between the varieties clearly evident on the untreated plots. NIAB’s variety specialists are available to talk and advise on, not only winter wheat, but variety choice options in all cereals, oilseeds and break crops.

VIEW OR DOWNLOAD
NIAB FRUIT 2024 ANNUAL REVIEW

Published in print and digital format, visitors can take copies from any NIAB stand at fruit and horticultural trade shows across this year, including the Fruit Focus event at East Malling on 10th July, as well as being available at NIAB offices in East Malling and Cambridge. View or download a digital copy at niab.com.

Free and available to all, the online Guide, hosted by the crop research organisation NIAB, contains a vast volume of best practice information on commercial apple production.

The Precision Orchard Management for the Environment (POME) project is a four-year, £4.5 million project that will see cutting-edge technologies used to analyse fruit trees in fine detail, allowing inputs to be targeted in a way that has never been seen before in UK orchards.

The project will focus on seven plant species of high relevance to UK researchers: arabidopsis, barley, oat, oilseed rape, rice, tomato and wheat. The aim is to integrate, analyse and add value to existing plant population DNA sequence data in a user-friendly, browsable genomic context, ultimately opening up opportunities in crop research innovation.