£62m boost for Barley Hub plan

The £62 mo fT ay Cities Deal funding secured by the James Hut ton Ins titu te for an Inter na it onal Barley Hub and an Advanced Plant Grow th Centre marks the biggest single investment in Scottish agricultural science ever – and will help drive and power the country’ s green recovery.

Welcoming the funds at the formal signing of the deal which took place yesterday, JHI chief executive Professor Colin Campbell, however, warned that there was no time to spare in progressing with work on the new facilities which would provide employment for up to 2600: “The value in these projects is directly linked to their being able to be built and delivering early: they can’t wait three or six years,” he said, highlighting the urgency of innovation projects aimed at increasing food security, reducing the impact of climate change and creating green jobs to aid the country’s recovery from Covid-19.

“We must unlock the benefits of this investment with urgency and so look for ward now to working with the Scottish and UK Governments and our partners in Tayside to finalise a workable funding schedule over the coming weeks,” said Campbell.

He said the International Barley Hub would support the industr y sectors that depended on barley which was Scotland and the UK’S most valuable crop – while helping to create better barley varieties that were resilient to climate change and had improved health promoting benefits, while the Advanced Plant Grow th Centre could help crop production systems produce food locally, 365 days a year, independently of the weather and with limited environmental impact.