The Farmers Mart Jun-Jul 2018 - Issue 57 | Page 43

ARABLE 43
• JUN/JUL 2018
Multi-Million
Pound Boost for
Crop Resilience
NEW funding to develop scientific break-
throughs in crop research and innova-
tion.
UK universities and research centres
which improve the resilience, sustainabil-
ity and quality of major crops will benefit
from a funding package worth around £5.3
million over five years, Environment Sec-
retary Michael Gove announced today.
The funding will go to four leading agri-
cultural research centres to help develop
new technologies and environmentally
friendly production for farmers and grow-
ers across the country.
They will focus on boosting productivity
for pulses, wheat, leafy vegetables and oil-
seed rape as part of Defra’s Crop Genetic
Improvement Networks (GINs).
Since their creation in 2003 Defra’s GINs
have:
‘ boosting productivity
for pulses, wheat,
leafy vegetables and
oilseed rape
’
• Increased crop resistance to pests and
diseases such as orange blossom midge
and turnip mosaic virus.
• Enhanced pea crops which are now
being used to produce high-quality
animal feed.
The four recipients that will undertake the
research are the John Innes Centre, Roth-
amsted Research, University of Warwick
and University of York.
The government has so far invested £160
million through the Agri-Tech Strategy to
harness the latest agricultural research and
technologies.
New feed wheat ‘Gleams’
with promise for growers
A new, high-yielding winter feed wheat
variety that could help growers respond
to several current agronomic challenges,
while being adaptable to a range of farm
situations, is being launched for planting
this autumn.
New hard Group four winter wheat, Gleam,
from Syngenta, continues the company’s
track record of bringing varieties to grow-
ers that not only offer good Septoria tritici
resistance but also produce barn-filling yields
without being late to mature, says Syngenta’s
seeds marketing manager, Tracy Creasy.
“With an output of 105% of control varie-
ties – equivalent to 11.55 t/ha – Gleam has
the second highest UK treated yield figure
on the 2018/19 AHDB Recommended List.
“Additionally, Gleam’s combination of rel-
atively early maturity plus stiff straw makes
it a useful choice to ease time pressures at
harvest”, says Mrs Creasy.
This combined with its flexible drilling
window from the first week of September
to late November, due to high tillering ca-
pacity and tiller maintenance, can be useful
in black-grass situations, by allowing longer
windows for stale seedbeds.
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