Beef production is very important for Scotland's economy (economic output of £851 million in 2017) and for providing the high quality and iconic, ‘Scotch Beef’ brand. Feed for livestock represents 70-80% of the variable costs of beef production and an improvement of feed conversion efficiency is needed to keep the beef industry economically viable.
Innovation is one of the three key drivers to achieving Ambition 2030, the industry-led strategy for the future growth of Scotland’s food and drink sector. Ambition 2030 sets a headline target of doubling the economic value of the sector by 2030, doing so responsibly, and recognising that skills and collaboration are vital.
Take a look our visualization of the network of researchers in the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme (SRP) as an illustration of just how complicated things can get! The image shows the complex connections between the researchers involved in the SRP (the bigger the node or circle - the bigger the level of interaction and lines represent linkages).
Food and Drink is a hugely important sector for Scotland and the UK economy, generating a turnover of £14.4 billion and £5.3 billion of GVA (gross value added) for the Scottish economy in 2014 alone. This sector not only has an impact on Scotland’s economy but food production can also has a significant influence on our environment, health and society and these are all areas that SEFARI research aims to a make a difference.
You may be wondering what we can do to help? Well, at the Centre for Sustainable Cropping (CSC) near Dundee, we’re aiming to develop a cropping system that can produce high quality food, whilst still maintaining a healthy environment. This means using what we understand about ecology to work with the environment to improve the health and physical structure of the soil, minimise the losses of nutrients and chemicals from cultivated fields, and support a rich variety of farmland wildlife.
Potato is the second most important food crop in the UK, and the underpinning seed potato industry contributes >£1 billion to Scotland’s economy. Aphid-vectored viruses threaten potato harvests because infected crops are downgraded or destroyed. Historically, Scotland has maintained low virus levels in potato crops, but this is changing due to the warming climate, new virus variants, loss of crop protection products, and aphid resistance to insecticides.
Fluctuating environmental conditions severely impact Scottish crop production affecting crop yields, nutritional quality and food security. Growth in indoor environments such as vertical farms (VF) offers opportunities to extend food security by providing year-round production in precise, pest-free, optimised environments for year-round production of high-quality crops irrespective of external conditions.
Simon in a senior Research Technician for the Plant Biochemistry & Food Quality sub-group (within EBS department and Advanced Plant Growth Centre).
His current role is wide ranging from experimental set up all the way through to sample analysis using high-throughput methods, including HPLC, LC-MS and GC-MS.
Area of Strategic Research Programme
Theme B: Sustainable food system and supply; Project B1-5: Crop improvement for sustainable production in a changing environment
The James Hutton Institute
Invergowrie
Dundee DD2 5DA
Scotland, UK
Raul is a senior crop molecular physiologist at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee, working within the Advanced Plant Growth Centre (APGC). His discovery-led research explores how plants respond at the physiological and molecular levels to environmental stress, as well as their adaptive strategies and limitations.
The James Hutton Institute
Invergowrie
Dundee DD2 5DA
United Kingdom
Scientists at The James Hutton Institute are leading work on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and thereby supporting the key actions of the recently published UK National Action Plan (NAP)1 for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides.