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Innovative research scientists at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany are evaluating new forage crops to provide “rocket fuel” for livestock.

They will share their skills and expertise at Grassland & Muck 2008 and showcase the latest in crop technology. A high ranking NIAB team will attend the event at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire next Wednesday and Thursday, 21 and 22 May, led by Forage Manager, Don Pendergrast. Grassland is aimed at challenging producers to plan grass and muck as an essential asset for profitable meat and milk production.

NIAB hosted an HGCA Symposium for PhD students throughout the UK who were able to showcase their agricultural research projects.

HGCA, which promotes improvements in the production of UK cereals and oilseeds, is actively involved in raising the profile of agricultural R&D within the young science community.

It is currently sponsoring 23 PhD students on a wide range of projects from crop production to human and animal nutrition.

A unique NIAB training course on quantitative genetics and statistics attracted participants from as far a field as Switzerland, Madeira and Latvia.

The two week postgraduate level course, entitled “Quantitative Methods in Plant Breeding”, rapidly filled with plant breeders and students, and may be held again at their centre in Huntingdon Road, Cambridge to meet demand.

Nottingham students visited NIAB to learn from some of the organisation's leading scientists who are working on innovative, cutting edge projects.

The 20 students from Nottingham University's Sutton Bonington Campus are taking Masters Degrees in Crop Improvement, Plant Genetic Manipulation, or Biosciences with Entrepreneurship.

The National Institute of Agricultural Botany has appointed three new research scientists to work on cutting edge projects which could help farmers produce more sustainable crops at a time when feeding the world’s population has become increasingly vital.

The new recruits are Gemma Rose and Dasuni Jayaweera who joined on 1 April, with Harika Akkinepalli starting on 1 May. All are skilled molecular geneticists with Masters degrees and their recruitment demonstrates NIAB’s commitment to expanding its pioneering research projects at its centre in Huntingdon Road, Cambridge.

Huw Jones of NIAB, together with Professor Glynis Jones of the University of Sheffield, were interviewed as part of Radio 4's Material World which will be broadcast on Thursday, 10 April 2008 at 4.30pm. The topic of the interview was ‘Cereal Domestication: The Origins of Agriculture'.

Page interview : BBC Radio4 listen again.

For further information please contact Huw Jones

A high ranking delegation of plant geneticists from the National Institute of Agricultural Botany are next week attending an international conference on barley and sharing findings from their innovative research.

NIAB scientists have recently published details of how they have validated a new method of mapping genes which utilises the natural genotypic variation in a large variety collection rather than in crosses between contrasting parents. A paper in the journal of BMC Genetics (to access, click here) describes application of so-called association mapping to the vernalization requirement in barley.

Cereal trials are generally in good condition with little disease present at all centres. Growth stage varies from a very forward 32 in Hereford from a September sown crop to early tillering from a late sown trial in Kent. Winter barleys and oats are generally Ok and have had their early fungicide and PGR treatments. Spring sowings are now just showing from February or early March drilling.

NIAB has been helping to inspire the next generation of young scientists. In the last month, three scientists visited schools in the region in support of the national campaign for the Year of Food and Farming.

One of them, Dr Lydia Smith, has also visited a Cambridge school to promote the UK National Science and Engineering Week, working with the University of Cambridge and gave a group of 8-10-year-olds a lesson in genetics and evolution.