̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - NIAB

New Crop Science Centre opens in Cambridge

jg533 — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 15:16:15 +0000

̽��ֱ��Crop Science Centre is an alliance between the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences and the crop research organisation NIAB, an internationally recognised centre for crop innovation.

̽��ֱ��Centre will serve as a global hub for crop science research and a base for collaborations with research partners around the world, to ensure global agricultural impact from the ground-breaking science happening in Cambridge. It includes a state-of-the-art facility to maximise the pace of research and accelerate crop improvements.

̽��ֱ��Centre will focus on improving the sustainability and equity of global food production. It will use an understanding of how plants work at the most fundamental level to drive transformative change in how we grow our food. Research will be aimed at reducing agricultural reliance on chemical inputs such as inorganic fertilisers, while maximising crop productivity, especially for the world’s poorest farmers.

Professor Giles Oldroyd FRS, Russell R. Geiger Professor of Crop Science at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Inaugural Director of the Crop Science Centre said: “This year we have seen how fragile our global systems are. ̽��ֱ��COVID-19 crisis is exposing another 120 million people to starvation worldwide, while crop yields here in the UK are suffering from changes in our climate.”

Oldroyd, who leads an international programme to replace inorganic fertilisers, added: “We need lasting solutions for stable and secure food production, but also need to improve sustainability in agriculture. We are excited to be opening this new Centre, which can drive the transformative change we so desperately need.”

Professor Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, said: “Urgent action is required to sustainably provide enough quality food for the world’s growing population. By combining our expertise in fundamental plant science with NIAB’s long experience in crop improvement, I am confident that we will make progress towards this vital goal.”

Dr Tina Barsby, CEO of NIAB, said: “Through transformative crop science technologies, research at the new Centre aims to ensure even the world’s poorest farmers can grow enough food. This work is at the top of the international agenda.”

Private donations from the late Russell R. Geiger and Robert and Susan Cawthorn helped to establish the Centre, alongside donations from NIAB and the Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Potato Growers Research Association (CUPGRA), and capital funding from the Research England-managed UK Research Partnership Investment Fund. Professor Oldroyd’s research programme is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Further information about the Crop Science Centre is available at www.cropsciencecentre.org

A new Centre in Cambridge, designed to fast-track technologies to sustainably improve farmers’ yields worldwide, was launched today.

This year we have seen how fragile our global systems are...we are excited to be opening this new Centre, which can drive the transformative change we so desperately need.

Giles Oldroyd

NIAB

Crop Science Centre building

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Major funding for new crop sciences research centre that will be ‘centrepiece’ of industrial collaboration

cjb250 — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 15:54:26 +0000

With the global population estimated to reach nine billion people by 2050, ensuring all people have access to sufficient food is one of this century’s greatest challenges.

Today, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is announcing funding for the creation of a new Cambridge Centre for Crop Science (3CS) in collaboration with the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB). ̽��ֱ��new centre will provide a major boost to the ̽��ֱ��’s existing research initiatives around global food security.

With £16.9m from the HEFCE-managed UK Research Partnership Investment Fund as well as some £14.5m from the NIAB Trust, the 3CS will focus on impact: working with industrial partners to translate the ̽��ֱ��’s strong fundamental plant research into outputs for the farmer, processor and consumer.

“3CS innovations will generate new crops and new ways of growing crops for food, fuels, industrial feedstocks and pharmaceuticals,” said Professor Sir David Baulcombe, head of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences and the project lead for the ̽��ֱ��.

“We envisage that new 3CS crop technologies will enable higher crop yields and lower environmental impact for crop-based food production – as well as contributing to improved dietary health.”

̽��ֱ��project leads say the 3CS will be uniquely well positioned to contribute to growth and innovation due to the partnership at its core: connecting the multidisciplinary research of the ̽��ֱ�� with NIAB’s pipeline to the end-users in farming and food industries.

“ ̽��ֱ��delivery of both public goods and economic growth is an essential agenda for today’s plant scientists, with the need to produce sufficient healthy nutritious food without harming the environment being at the top of the international agenda,” said NIAB’s CEO and Director Dr Tina Barsby.

“Creating the facilities to bring together NIAB and the ̽��ֱ�� in 3CS presents an extraordinary opportunity for impacting this agenda through the development of world-class science and translation.”

̽��ֱ��funding from HEFCE will allow the 3CS to be housed in a state-of-the-art research laboratory at NIAB’s Cambridge site, where it will be led by a newly-appointed Professor of Crop Science. ̽��ֱ��Centre will involve researchers from Plant Sciences and other ̽��ֱ�� departments, NIAB, the Cambridge Sainsbury Laboratory, and other UK and international research institutes.

3CS is already establishing connections with major industry partners, as well as agricultural supply chain networks such as the Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Potato Growers Research Association.

In addition to the Cambridge Centre, the funding will also provide new field stations and offices at NIAB’s Histon site, as well as new glasshouses with full environmental controls.

̽��ֱ��Eastern region is a rich area for plant science, and benefits from the Agri-Tech East research and business network. 3CS will allow for closer collaboration with other regional institutes, including the John Innes Centre in Norwich and Rothamsted Research – both of whom have welcomed the establishment of the new centre.

Young researchers will be central to the success of 3CS, says Baulcombe, and the best will be recruited from around the world to be trained in interdisciplinary science, including the latest in plant genetics, bioinformatics, computational modelling and statistics.

Strong links with the agricultural industry through NIAB will mean that 3CS researchers will learn to understand how societal value and industry requirements feed into research design and translation.

While 3CS will make significant contributions to the main globally-traded crops such as wheat and rice, there will be a focus on advances in the genetics and agronomy of other UK crops, such as potato and legumes, and so-called ‘orphan crops’: those that lag behind in technological advances but are vital for smallholder farmers across the developing world.

Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the ̽��ֱ��’s Vice-Chancellor, said: “3CS will be unlike anywhere else in Europe because it connects a world-leading ̽��ֱ�� directly to growers, breeders and other sectors of industry associated with crops. ̽��ֱ��opportunity could be compared to the potential for advances in healthcare when a research-active medical school co-locates with a hospital and pharmaceutical company.

“ ̽��ֱ��3CS will be the centrepiece of what will be significant new collaborations, and an exemplar of what can be achieved by bringing together interested parties to focus on sustainable crop production – essential for food security, resilience to climate change, and the growing bio-economy.”

Over £30m has been announced for a new Cambridge Centre for Crop Science that will focus on linking with farming and food industries to translate research into real world impact.

3CS will be unlike anywhere else in Europe because it connects a world-leading ̽��ֱ�� directly to growers, breeders and other sectors of industry associated with crops

Leszek Borysiewicz

Carl Davies, CSIRO

Canola crop with wheat crop in background at Wallandbeen, NSW.

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Cambridge leads UK institutions in agreement on crop science with Indian government

ts657 — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 17:06:24 +0000

India’s Department of Biotechnology and a consortium of British research institutions, led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, signed a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday at the Ministry of Earth Sciences in New Delhi for the establishment of a joint UK-India crop science programme.

̽��ֱ��aim of the agreement is to enhance collaborative research, promote knowledge exchange, and support capacity building to develop resilience in food security.

̽��ֱ��agreement was signed on behalf of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Leszek Borysiewicz, Professor Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan of India’s Ministry of Science and Technology, and Director of the Research Councils UK India Dr Nafees Meah, on behalf of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

It was also signed by representatives from NIAB in Cambridge; the John Innes Centre and the ̽��ֱ�� of East Anglia, in Norwich and Rothamsted Research.

Professor Leszek Borysiewicz said: “This collaboration builds on the close links already established between leading researchers in the United Kingdom and India and is another great example of both countries’ commitment to growing our partnerships in translational and applied research.

“This collaboration will create opportunities for leading experts in the UK and India to come together to tackle global challenges in the areas of food security, crop science and biotechnology.”

Professor VijayRaghavan said: “ ̽��ֱ��United Kingdom has been a long-standing partner with the Government of India in Science and Technology, a collaboration that has grown from strength to strength.

“On the foundation of this excellence we are delighted to take a very new and very important direction in crop science. Our partners are the best in the UK and together we can be the best anywhere, working together to address a key global problem.”

Dr Tina Barsby, CEO and Director of NIAB, said: “We are delighted to be part of this international collaboration to develop and improve the translation of fundamental crop research into agronomic practice.

“We want to give farmers and growers throughout the sub-continent access to the most advanced developments in agricultural science and technology; essential for them to meet the challenges of growing crops in the face of changing climatic conditions and increasing food security demands.”

All parties agreed on the importance of crop science as an area of enormous potential for scientific collaboration, and its central role in driving global food security in India and beyond.

̽��ֱ��agreement foresees joint projects focusing on the fundamental science underpinning yield enhancement, disease resistance and drought resistance; research into crop re-breeding; and the translation of fundamental research into sustainable agriculture practice.

It also contemplates the establishment of a joint Indo-UK Plant Science Centre in India.

A collaboration between leading scientists in the UK and India will focus on tackling global food shortages with research into increasing crop yields and improving disease and drought resistance.

This collaboration will create opportunities for leading experts in the UK and India to come together to tackle global challenges in the areas of food security, crop science and biotechnology.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Leszek Borysiewicz

ICRISAT

Pearl millet

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