Research to change the nature of agriculture

EIGHT innovative projects aimed at addressing a range of issues in the agricultural and forestry sectors in Wales have been approved for government funding.

The European Innovation Partnership Wales (EIP Wales) can hand out up to £40,000 per project for a maximum of 45 projects. Those approved so far include:

A potato blight project to develop an effective, natural and potentially low-cost bio-pesticide to common potato blight using a chemical (Saponin) sourced from ivy.

The Cambrian Mountains beef group, which uses technical experts to expand the resources available to primary producers in rural areas. The aim is to address the direct marketing needs of farming businesses to secure long-term, short supply chains.

Pasture for pollinators explores how forage resources on dairy farms can be managed to conserve and enhance populations of bumblebees and other pollinators. The aim is to increase the number and diversity of food plants and maximise productivity and financial performance of farms.

Reducing antibiotic at lambing time is researching how changes in flock management through improved nutrition and hygiene can reduce the need for antibiotics, and increase production while maintaining high standards of animal health and welfare.

Low-impact machinery in small-scale farm woodlands aims to illustrate the merits of different types of management to highlight the most appropriate methods of minimising environmental disturbance.

Squill is used in a number of anti-cough preparations and is traditionally sourced from the wild in India and northern Africa. Squill production in north Wales aims to establish the demands of the plant, including agronomy, harvesting and extraction techniques, and their costs when grown in Wales.

Robotic weeder in small scale horticulture aims to determine savings when using a computerised inter-row weeder in small scale, organically managed, horticultural systems.

Genomic testing of dairy heifers aims to maximise the opportunity of testing heifers to accelerate the breeding progress of dairy herds. The eight farms have listed the traits they’re aiming to improve within their herd, and progress towards these will be assessed over 3 lactation periods.