Case Studies

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 vir

Fluctuating environmental conditions severely impact Scottish crop production affecting crop yields, nutritional quality and food security.

Our ongoing project at Glen Finglas has shown how sensitive biodiversity is to changing upland management. To maintain consistency, we have used the same monitoring methods since the beginning of the project.

It has been reported that the UK exiting of the European Union (Brexit) has affected salmon industry. Both the volume and value of salmon exported to the EU, which still is the main market for Scottish Salmon, have been impacted. 

The eco-labels "Farmed Responsibly ASC Certified" and "Certified Carbon Neutral" can potentially enhance the desirability of Scottish salmon among UK consumers.

Farmed salmon is one of Scotland’s main exports, benefitting the national economy and local communities.

In Scotland, about 

Transforming our diets to build a more sustainable food system is paramount to achieving net zero.

Over the past decade, the European Commission has invested in a series of measures designed to support innovation in agriculture through networking all those involved in Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS): farmers, advisors, supply chain members, NGOs and researchers. 

Castration and tail docking of lambs are commonly performed management procedures in sheep farming. These interventions aim to prevent unwanted pregnancies caused by young rams that reach puberty, and to minimise risk of blowfly strike and maggot infestation of the breech, respectively.

Genetic biodiversity is the fuel that drives crop improvement.  However, in major cereal crops, while the traditional method of crop improvement has brought significant yield improvements over time, it has also resulted in a drastic loss of crop genetic biodiversity. 

Achieving food security has gained prominence in the present policy agenda to increase resilience to adverse events. Using a novel method, we estimated the food balance sheets of Scotland, and assessed the self-sufficiency of major food commodities for the first time.

Spurred in part by Scottish government policies such as the commitment to reach Net Zero by 2045, there has been an increase in investment in land for natural capital purposes in Scotland.

Agriculture faces many challenges, including a warming climate, more frequent occurrence of extreme climate events and increased incidence and severity of crop diseases.

Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that impacts human and animal health worldwide. Infection in humans is usually very mild, however, there can be severe or life-threatening disease in immune compromised people or pregnant women.

Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth and is important to most aspects of our lives.

The bacterial pathogen Chlamydia abortus is responsible for causing the disease ovine enzootic abortion (OEA), also known as enzootic abortion of ewes (EAE).

Roundworms and sheep scab mites are common throughout the UK and threaten the health, welfare and productivity of grazing livestock.

Infectious diseases have a major impact on the welfare and productivity of animals raised for food production worldwide. Furthermore, poor productivity leads to increased carbon emissions, and the drugs used to control infections can harm the environment and reduce biodiversity.