The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Projects plan a sustainable rural future
Aproject to breed climate-hardened sheep is among a group of projects to share £500,000 in funding as part of efforts to make UK farming more sustainable.
UK farm levy body the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have awarded half a million pounds to 10 agricultural projects across the UK.
These include a project, led by Dr Georgios Banos at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), to improve genetics to breed climateresilient sheep.
AHDB environmental scientist, Dr Amanda Bennett, welcomed the partnership with BBSRC and said: “Agriculture will be instrumental in reducing the impact of climate change by cutting greenhouse emissions and increasing carbon storage.
“These new research projects will provide muchneeded progress in scientific knowledge on how farming can reach netzero by 2040.”
She said the 10 projects in receipt of funding cover five distinct topics – technology, regenerative agriculture, soil health, improving livestock farming systems and looking to the future development of new resistance mechanisms.
The other projects include one led by Dr Matthew Tinsley at Stirling University to develop best practice for tank-mixing pesticides and work by Dr
Martin Blackwell at Rothamsted Research to develop a new field test kit to measure soil phosphate.
Dr Michael Garratt from Reading University will lead a project on optimising inputs for oilseed rape crops, while Dr Jackie Stroud at SRUC will investigate how earthworms may reduce disease risk through effective residue management.
Dr Beatriz Orosa will examine Ubiquitin-induced resistance in barley and Dr Phil Staddon at the Royal Agricultural University will look at the best grazing options for livestock.
Another project, led by Dr Matthew Black at Harper Adams University, will explore how new soil amendments could help to store carbon in soil.