"Producing resistant varieties that are attractive to growers and processors is incredibly important if we’re to protect the future of potato production across the UK. However, resistance is only half the battle, and we need to be considering tolerance too. Resistance will reduce PCN multiplication, whilst tolerance will protect yields." Researchers at the James Hutton Institute and James Hutton Limited are exploring ways to reduce the losses caused by potato cyst nematodes (PCN) in commercial potato production. PCN is an increasing challenge to the UK fresh and processing potato markets, and
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"There is an old adage that says if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The first task for policymakers is to understand that, in spite of the mask of resilience it wears, our food system is broken and highly vulnerable" By Mike Rivington Will there be turkeys for Christmas? In spite of some likely strains due to Brexit, labour shortages and the familiar yet ever-evolving disruptions of COVID-19, the answer is a fairly safe yes. Yet this is perhaps surprising. Press and media enquiries: Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo, Media Manager, James Hutton Institute, Tel: +44 (0)1224 395089 (direct line), +44 (0
The GMP commits one hundred countries to reduce their methane emissions by at least 30% (based on 2020 levels) by 2030. Although carbon dioxide (CO2) tends to get the headlines, methane is more potent (1 kg methane is equal to 27 kg of CO2 in terms of the warming it causes) and shorter-lived greenhouse gas (half-life of 12 years rather than centuries). The majority of global methane emissions stem from human activities: fossil fuels (35%), landfills and waste (20%), and agriculture (40%). For the latter, ruminant livestock, such as cows and sheep, and slurry storage are responsible for most of
"The global analysis of soil seed bank diversity and density strongly suggests that the biodiversity of sub-tropical and tropical forests is particularly vulnerable to large-scale climatic or land-use disturbances" Soil seed banks are a hidden stock for plant diversity and are critical for the recovery of disturbed ecosystems. A new study co-authored by Prof Robin Pakeman, a senior scientist within the James Hutton Institute’s Ecological Sciences department, has brought together research on the density and diversity of seed banks in an effort to try and understand their global patterns. Press
The way we manage land and plan land-use change plays an integral role in the efforts for meeting climatic targets and for mitigating and adapting to climate change impacts. According to the current Land Use Strategy, the scale of future land-use change required is significant if we were to maximise the contribution of land towards a sustainable future for Scotland. Therefore, decisions about land-use change need to be fully integrated and joined-up across sectors and scales and consider multiple objectives, e.g., changes in land-use would need to be optimised to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
This report provides a review of land and environmental monitoring and modelling programmes in England and Wales and draws lessons to build the case for developing a Scottish integrated approach for environmental and land-use statistics, to support evidencebased decision and policy making for the land and agricultural sectors. Review findings and relevant literature are synthesized to provide recommendations for the development of the different components of a Scottish integrated approach to environmental and land-use data, regarding its governance options, utilisation of existing ICT
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) have been defined many times, but these definitions can be summarised as “solutions to societal challenges that are inspired and supported by nature”. Examples would be the restoration of peat bogs to return them to net sinks of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or re-meandering rivers to reduce flood risk. However, not all NbS are equal: the term can be applied to different interventions in quite varied settings, tackling varied problems. There is a need to evaluate and understand NbS, to help understand the potential of alternative approaches, and how best to