Researchers at the University’s internationally recognised Warwick Crop Centre are reflecting on a new government report, ‘A blueprint to grow the UK fruit and vegetable sector’, which details plans to support the fresh fruit and vegetable sector.

Press Release (23 May 2024)

Researchers at Warwick Crop Centre have celebrated the successful harvest of a homegrown bean developed to thrive in a British summer.

Press Release (9 September 2023)

Professor Eric Holub and research fellow Rosanne Maguire discuss the novel bean varieties on BBC CWR.

Radio interview 

The UKRI and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has awarded a Collaborative Training Partnership (CTP) grant to a consortium led by G’s Growers Ltd. The CTP programme for Sustainable Agricultural Innovation (CTP-SAI) is a groundbreaking partnership between leading businesses, charities and research providers to offer outstanding training for the agri-food sector.

Through this programme, the University of Warwick is offering a PhD enabling the successful candidate to gain a wide range of experience in conventional and molecular plant pathology and also of microbial community analyses through next generation sequencing approaches. This PhD is a unique opportunity to blend research techniques from lab to field and work with one of Europe’s biggest lettuce producers. The project on 'Integrated control of Fusarium wilt of lettuce in relation to pathogen and microbial community dynamics' will be supervised by Professor John Clarkson (SLS) and Dr Helen Bates (NIAB).

The deadline for applications is 8 April 2022.

Find out more about the project

As part of a monthly series featuring the eight finalists in the 2020 BBC Gardeners World Magazine Gardens of the Year competition, Andy Gladman, a Crop Centre PhD student and his Leamington Spa ornamental allotment are the subject of March's edition.

The six page article plots his journey,' driven from a lifelong passion for plants', especially kniphofia, echinops, verbena and buddleas and the set back of living in a top floor north facing flat, in transforming an overgrown allotment plot in 2018 from 'a field of couch grass and bindweed' to an 'astonishingly vibrant and drought tolerant garden'. With his interest in plant diversity there are 'around 100 cultivars of kniphofia (red hot poker') that he has been trying to accumulate and is planning on applying for a National Collection status for these and his echinops (globe thistle).

Working on a tight budget and with using materials that otherwise would go to waste as a very important aspect to him,' seed sowing and recycling have been key'. 'The entire path is made up of pavers from a fellow allotmenteer's old driveway' and both greenhouses, furniture in the summer house and one of the greenhouses and water trough are either secondhand or from charity shops.

Many of the plants are a haven for insects and the bees are everywhere. He noted a lot of butterfly diversity when taking part in the Big Butterfly Count 2020 and believes the allotment holders are pleased with the amount of pollinators his garden attracts to the allotments.

More information - Gardeners' World Magazine, March 2021, pages 72-77.
Andy Gladman is a PhD student with Dr Dave Chandler.

The University of Warwick’s research commercialisation wing, Warwick Innovations, has signed a contract with agronomy specialist Agrii to promote the commercial production of UK haricot beans developed by Professor Eric Holub from Warwick’s Crop Centre, part of the School of Life Sciences. Professor Holub has bred three haricot bean varieties which are adapted for growing in the UK climate and are more suited to standard farm machinery.

“Self-sufficiency in food production is important for reducing human impact on global climate. British-grown beans can help us shift our diets to a healthier future, adding to other UK ingredients to supply the growing trend of flexitarian diets with new markets like Brit-Mediterranean and Brex-Mexican style food.” Professor Holub.

Press Release (9 February 2021)

The UK Vegetable Genebank (UKVGB), part of Warwick Crop Centre on the University of Warwick’s Wellesbourne Campus, celebrates its 40th anniversary today (8 October 2020).

Press Release

On 8 October 1980, the UK Vegetable Genebank was officially opened on what is now the Wellesbourne Campus of the University. Since then, a collection of ~14,000 seed samples has been amassed, becoming a hugely important resource for plant breeding and research. We send seed out on request to plant scientists, breeders and even farmers both in the UK and around the world. Changes in the environment, and increase in the number of people on the planet and a need to reduce irrigation, pesticide and fertilizer inputs in farming mean that plant breeders and researchers need develop new varieties constantly so that vegetables can continue to provide vital nutrition in our diets.
 
Forty Years of Seeds for the Future
To celebrate our anniversary, we are holding an online event from 5-9 October. Take a virtual tour of the genebank and register for our public webinar to hear about genebank collections from a plant breeding, research and international perspective. We’ll also be featuring research by groups within SLS, showing the diverse ways in which our seed is being used and how innovation and technology is opening up new approaches. See you there!

Members of the Warwick community who are living on campus during lockdown have the opportunity to help survey wildlife for a biodiversity project.

'Seeds are little bundles of future potential'. Find out about the wonders of seeds from Dr Charlotte Allender.
Read the Knowledge Centre article.

Just under 1000 seed samples from different crop species including kale, carrots and cauliflower are to be deposited at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Arctic Norway on Tuesday 25 February 2020, from the UK Vegetable Genebank (UKVGB) at the University of Warwick Wellesbourne campus.

Press Release