The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
CEO Colin Campbell, centre, MSP Mairi Gougeon and MP Iain Stewart at a turf-cutting ceremony for a £62 million International Barley Hub and the Advanced Plant Growth Centre at the James Hutton Institute. Picture by Gareth Jennings.
New state-of-the-art science, farm and field facilities on the outskirts of Dundee will go a long way towards providing the answers to the global climate challenges facing the agricultural and food sectors, scientists and politicians have promised.
The assurances were given at a turf-cutting ceremony for a £62 million International Barley Hub (IBH) and the Advanced Plant Growth Centre (APGC) at the James Hutton Institute’s (JHI) Invergowrie campus.
The buildings, funded through the Tay Cities Region Deal, are due to be completed in early 2024.
Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said the work would complement government hope for a more sustainable agricultural sector.
“The IBH and the APGC will put Scotland at the forefront of where we want to be,” she said.
“Some of the crops we grow will face challenges through climate change, whether that’s pests or diseases, and it is critical to Scotland that we can future-proof them.”
UK Minister Iain Stewart said the projects will ensure food and drink production remains “dynamic, sustainable and secure”. He added: “We will have to be more efficient and innovative in how we use our natural resources
and produce crops for the future. The work happening here will be of international significance.”
The IBH is the result of a campaign by JHI backed by maltsters, distillers and farmers, and the institute’s scientists are optimistic.
The hub’s chair Professor James Brosnan said: “The IBH complements the existing spirit of collaboration in the barley supply chain and will provide the answers to our shared climate challenges through applied scientific excellence.”
Meanwhile, the APGC aims to revolutionise crop production to produce food locally 365 days a year with less environmental impact. Ideas include vertical farming with LED lights on derelict land.
The centre’s director Professor Derek Stewart said: “Today’s milestone reflects the aim of the APGC to break new ground in many areas related to our quality of life.
“This centre will allow us to develop and translate science that will lead to new productions systems like vertical farming, more accurately model climate change and its implications for plant and crop products such as food, pharma, etc, and support food security through crop storage.”
The two projects could create more than 470 jobs in Tayside and 2,200 more across the economy.