16 Apr 2025
Landmark is Niab's corporate publication, published three times a year, featuring in-depth technical articles on all aspects of Niab crop research and services.
Available to all - access the online flip-book and downloadable PDF versions of Issue 58 – Spring 2025.
Niab Landmark: Spring 2025
With an all-female author list Issue 58 includes an overview of the 2025 cereals and oilseed variety candidates, updates to the sugar beet Recommended List system, innovations in plant variety testing, molecular markers in DUS testing, managing fungicide resistance to Septoria in wheat, use of AMF to improve raspberry propagation and the role of women in seed testing with a look at the history of the OSTS.
Articles include:
- Leadership in plant science - Crop Science Centre Acting Director Uta Paszkowski focuses on female leadership in crop science, highlighting current research into advancements in genetic technologies and sustainable food production and the scientists driving the work at Niab and the Crop Science Centre.
- Variety candidates for 2025 - Crop specialist Clare Leaman and agronomist Poppy de Pass provide an overview of new wheat, barley, oat and oilseed rape candidate varieties for the AHDB Recommended List, with traits like disease resistance, yield potential, and suitability for specific uses.
- Changes to sugar beet trials - Research trials coordinator Julia Woerner outlines the changes to the trial system for sugar beet varieties with a separation of the Recommended List trials from the Variety List testing system, which includes VCU and DUS.
- Molecular markers in variety DUS testing - Technical manager Vanessa McMillan reviews Niab's research into the possible application of molecular markers in DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability) testing, with a focus on spring barley, and how it could be used to increase the speed and efficiency of testing.
- Staff profile - Poppy de Pass - Niab regional agronomist Poppy de Pass talks about her career, from her Wiltshire family farm with a degree in agriculture, to starting at Niab as a trials officer at Sutton Scotney, and finally through to her current advisory role and work with clients. She discusses the challenges facing UK farming and shares her advice and personal experience on working in trials and agronomy.
- Fungicide resistance in Septoria - Pathologist Nichola Hawkins outlines her research on fungicide resistance, particularly in Septoria, including the evolutionary forces driving it, and how this is helping develop longer-lasting strategies to control Septoria and other diseases.
- Improving raspberry propagation - Research leader Louisa Robinson-Boyer's experience in the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for increasing plant health, water and nutrient use is the basis for her latest research into improving raspberry propagation in virgin and recycled coir substrate with the addition of AMF.
- Bait strategies for fruit crops - Head of pest and pathology ecology at Niab in East Malling Michelle Fountain's research into the use of bait sprays in fruit crops has identified novel ways of improving pest management.
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