Press release

The name Malling is synonymous varieties that have set new industry standards, from globally successful apple rootstocks and raspberry varieties, through to the strawberry Malling Centenary, launched in 2013, which has since become the industry standard June-bearer strawberry now selling more than 70 million plants a year.

Mario Caccamo, Managing Director of NIAB EMR, said: “Malling Fruits connects us to the strength of our 100-year heritage while at the same time links industry to the quality on offer of current and future leading varieties.”

Responding to last week’s National Food Strategy, leading players along the length of the UK’s crop improvement pipeline, from fundamental and applied genetic science to commercial plant breeding, have issued a joint call on the Government to take action on two fronts – regulation and R&D – to harness the unique contribution of plant genetics in securing a more sustainable food future.

Growing Kent & Medway has announced £3million in R&D grants for projects that support inclusive economic growth and environmentally sustainable practices and innovations.

Funding grants of up to £250,000 will be made available to assist projects that aim to develop green technologies, processes or products for horticultural food and drink businesses across Kent and Medway.

A computer scientist by training, Professor Caccamo is currently NIAB’s Deputy Director and Managing Director of NIAB EMR. He has over 20 years’ experience in life science research and big data, including specific projects to apply the latest DNA sequencing technologies and bioinformatics methods to advance scientific understanding of crop genetics and the interaction of agricultural crops with their environment.

‘Malling^TM Ace’, is a strawberry first selected in 2015 and trialled in 2017 at NIAB EMR, the horticultural research centre at East Malling. It offers the potential to boost the fortunes of growers in the UK by providing high-quality fruit throughout the year that matches the quality of the best June strawberries. After the success of its commercial trials in 2019, Malling Ace has been fast-tracked to get it to market.

NIAB chief executive Dr Tina Barsby welcomed the publication today of the long-awaited European Commission study into the regulatory status of Novel Genomic Techniques (NGT) such as gene editing, and in particular the study’s conclusions that NGT products have the potential to contribute to sustainable food systems with plants more resistant to diseases, environmental conditions and climate change effects, food products with higher nutritional qualities such as healthier fatty acid content, and reduced need fo

The names for 14 new pesticide active ingredients have been approved by the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) and added to BCPC’s Online Pesticide Manual.

The ISO’s Technical Committee of Common Names for Pesticides assign shorter, more distinctive, active ingredient names than their original chemical name for newly approved pesticides.

The investment will transform plant-based scientific research facilities across the South East and strengthen the competitiveness of Britain’s horticulture, food and drink industries.

csfbSMART – ‘Sharing Management and Agronomy Research Tools’ - has been set-up to test management methods and tools for use against the pest on UK farms, with oilseed rape growers provided with information on how to implement and assess these management strategies over the next three years.

Welcoming the Government’s long-awaited consultation on plans to regulate the products of precision breeding techniques in the same way as conventional breeding methods, rather than as GMOs, leading scientists and cross-party politicians have highlighted the potential opportunities of these advances to support more sustainable farming and food production systems.