A new project led by the University of Dundee, in partnership with The James Hutton Institute, the University of Nottingham, Harper Adams University and 28 industry partners, aims to strengthen the UK’s future food security by tackling critical shortages in skills and knowledge within the agricultural sector.
With the UK’s farming workforce both ageing and shrinking, and with pests continuing to threaten crop yields, there is an urgent need to train experts who can support sustainable food production for years to come.
The Crop Innovation Centre – Skills, Technology And Research Training (CIC-START) will be based at the Hutton’s Crop Innovation Centre in Invergowrie, and will support 24 postgraduate researchers, giving them the expertise needed to take on major sustainability challenges. The centre, which will focus on potatoes, barley and other cereal crops, is funded by UK Research and Innovation’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
Professor Ian Toth, Director of the National Potato Innovation Centre (NPIC), also housed at the Hutton, said, “We need to future proof the potato industry and support economic resilience and growth.
“I am delighted that following feedback from the cereal and potato industries on their major challenges, CIC-START has managed to secure funding for up to 96 years of full-time collaborative post-graduate research that will help to address some of these challenges and provide a skilled workforce for both agricultural sciences and industry into the future.”
Professor Tim George, head of the Hutton’s International Barley Hub (IBH), said, “This is a great opportunity for us to support the cutting edge of science in the field of crop innovation and help train the next generation of crop scientists, building on the success of our previous doctoral training programme, BARIToNE.”
The IBH promotes scientific discovery and innovation to future-proof barley, the UK’s most valuable crop. Climate change and other environmental challenges, coupled with an increasing demand for the crop means that research into genetics and breeding is vitally important to safeguard production and ensure a sustainable future for this most critical of crops.
The Hutton is a world leading research institute addressing the issue of global food security by finding scientific solutions for the sustainable management of land and natural resources and the demands for improved agricultural productivity and crop resilience. The Hutton’s campus near Dundee hosts three innovation centres that link industry to academia through NPIC, IBH and the Advanced Plant Growth Centre (APGC), as well as important crop germplasm collections and cutting-edge facilities that will benefit the students, and the industry and academic partners in CIC-START.
The IBH and APGC are part of a £62m investment through the Tay Cities Region Deal (TRCD) a partnership between local, Scottish and UK governments and the private, academic and voluntary sectors.
The National Potato Innovation Centre (NPIC) is a partnership dedicated to finding scientific solutions to the challenges facing the potato industry, drawing on the Hutton’s extensive expertise in delivering commercially successful varieties for major breeding companies to develop sustainable, climate resilient production systems using precision agri-tech tools such as robots, drones and below ground phenotyping as well as AI and modelling to control disease, manage waste and contribute to net zero farming systems.
Dr Edgar Huitema, Principal Investigator and Head of Postgraduate Studies at Dundee’s School of Life Sciences, said, “As we pick up food and drink from supermarket shelves, we often overlook how important – and how vulnerable – our supply chains are.
“Food security is influenced by many external pressures, including climate change, energy costs, land availability, and regulations around pesticides. These challenges demand innovation and new sustainable practices.
“To protect our land and crops, we need both fresh ideas and a highly skilled workforce able to develop and apply them. Potatoes and small-grain cereals are vital to our food security, exports, and national economy, so we must reduce vulnerabilities in these areas.”
Researchers will work on practical challenges faced by the sector, developing genetic and agronomic strategies to improve pest and disease management, enhance soil health, build climate resilience, and reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions, focussing on three core themes: Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Crop and Soil Health, and Waste and Greenhouse Gas Reduction.
Through these areas, CIC-START aims to support sustainable crop supplies and produce a new generation of highly trained PhD graduates ready to lead within the potato and cereal industries.
For more information contact Media Officer, Joyce Reid, joyce.reid@hutton.ac.uk, or on 07931 551 988