The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Hutton appoints two top scientists
The James Hutton Institute has appointed two scientists to head up flagship initiatives in potato and barley.
Professor Ian Toth has been appointed the first director of the National Potato Innovation Centre (NPIC).
It plans to accelerate potato breeding and discovery, resilient production systems and innovative products and create high skilled jobs in new industries.
Dr Tim George has been named deputy director of the International Barley Hub.
It aims to bolster barley growing worldwide by researching new varieties and techniques to increase yield, resilience, and the climate-change credentials of the crop.
Professor Toth is a plant pathologist specialising in potato diseases.
He is currently director of Scotland’s Plant Health
Centre, an operation led by the Hutton and funded by the Scottish Government, to help tackle plant health in the country.
In 2020 he received the ‘British Potato Industry Award’ for lifetime contribution to the industry and will become president of the European Association for Potato Research in 2024.
He said: “There is nothing humble about the potato – in fact, it’s the world’s third most important staple food crop and the single most important crop in terms of food produced per unit area.
“Hutton is already the custodian of the Commonwealth Potato Collection – a unique source of potato germplasm from wild relatives and land races.
“However, yield gains in potatoes have failed to keep pace with those achieved in other crops, largely down to their complex genetics.
“We will be tackling what’s now an urgent need – to lead global research into this most-vital of crops, using both natural science and social science working together.”
Dr Tim George is a plant physiologist and soil scientist who has worked on the dynamics of nutrients in the rhizosphere – the zone of chemical, biological, and physical influence generated by root growth – for a quarter of a century.
He has previously led teams of scientists in projects funded by the European Union and UK Research and Innovation and is a board member of the European Plant Sciences Organisation.
The International Barley Hub (IBH) is part of the Tay Cities Regional Deal partnership supported by £45m from the UK Government and £17m from the Scottish Government.
Dr Tim George said: “Barley is one of Scotland’s most important crops and is pivotal to brewing and distilling, yet it remains largely under the radar in terms of the perception of its significance.
“Few people outside the farming industry appreciate barley’s link to the economic well-being of this country, as well as its significance globally as a nutritious food crop.”
Barley is the UK’S second largest crop, and is grown on about half of Scotland’s arable land. It supports 40,000 jobs in Britain, largely down to its role as a food, feed and main ingredient in Scotch whisky and beer.
Professor Colin Campbell, chief executive of The James Hutton Institute, said: “Both of these appointments are crucial to two of the renowned Invergowrie research hub’s flagship areas of research.
“Food security is headline global issue.”