Farm Sustainability Fund Dissemination Event

The Farm Sustainability Fund was a joint investment of £0.5M from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) funding 10 projects developing novel solutions for a more sustainable agriculture. The projects ran January through March 2022 addressing challenges affecting the sector, as identified by farmers, and helping the farming community reach the target of net zero by 2040. Projects included the development of a new field-testing kit, research into improved soil health and soil resilience, and research into night-time monitoring of vine weevils.

The dissemination event will be held virtually via Zoom on 13th July (13:00 – 16:00) and will provide an opportunity to highlight key outputs from each of the 10 projects and celebrate their successes. The agenda for the event is as follows:

Introduction from BBSRC

Session 1: Research and innovation for crop health

Dr Beatriz Orosa at the University of Edinburgh - How plants and pathogens battle at the molecular level with ‘Ubiquitin induced resistance in barley’

Dr Joe Roberts at Harper Adams University - Smart monitoring tool for improved night-time monitoring of vine weevils

Dr Matthew Tinsley at Stirling University - Best-practice for tank-mixing biopesticides

Dr Dasuni Jayaweera at the University of Nottingham - How earthworms may reduce crop disease risk through effective residue management

Dr Michael Garratt at University of Reading - Optimising agronomic and biological inputs for more sustainable oil seed production

BREAK

Session 2: Exploring agricultural sustainability

Dr Phil Staddon at Royal Agricultural University - Best grazing options for soil health

Dr Georgios Banos at SRUC - Genomics of sheep resilience to climate change

Dr Robert Dunn at Rothamsted Research - Phosfield – Field testing the user friendliness of a rapid, low-cost in-field available soil phosphate test kit

Dr Matthew Back at Harper Adams University - Utilisation of chitinous by-products for improved soil resilience

Dr Julia Cooper at Newcastle University - Opportunities and challenges for regenerative agriculture in Northeast England

Close - AHDB/BBSRC

Joining instructions: Zoom details will be emailed to registered attendees prior to the event.