Crop Centre Open Day 2024
A day in pictures
Celebrating 75 years of vegetable and crop research, our Innovation Campus, Stratford-upon-Avon, welcomed over 200 colleagues to visit the Crop Centre and find out how we're supporting the future of farming. Take a look at what attendees saw on the tour.
Dr Charlotte Allender explained how we manage and conserve crop diversity, safeguarding it for the future.
The Genebank holds 14,000 types of seed, representing 47 crops from 108 countries.
1086 seed samples from the UKVGB are stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Arctic Norway, including a Warwickshire carrot, an Evesham Brussel Sprout and the Leamington Cauliflower.
The Vault is an insurance policy for the world’s food supply, offering options for future generations to overcome the challenges of climate change and population growth.
Elizabeth Creak Horticulture Technology Centre
Professor Murray Grant describes how the centre aims to use cutting-edge technologies, like genome editing, to improve horticultural crops and contribute towards food security.
Plant Quarantine Field
Professor John Clarkson described the restricted access area where we work on soilborne diseases caused by fungal pathogens - it is a unique facility in the UK.
By introducing diseases into trials we can test new crop protection products/control approaches and assess new varieties for resistance.
Biodiversity – Balancing Nature with Growing Food
Professor Rosemary Collier highlighted the biodiversity on the Innovation Campus. The site is home to special wildlife, including Brown Hares, Corn Buntings and Great Crested Newts.
We are trying to support wildlife using a variety of approaches, including tree and hedgerow planting, hedge laying, wildflower meadow establishment, and reduced mowing.
Field trials
Dr Rob Lillywhite showcased some of the field trials we undertake. The aim is to improve the quality and diversity of homegrown produce and minimise the environmental impact of food production.
Food Diversity
The food crop varieties on display in our ‘test garden’ are growing in full British sunlight. Unlike conventional polythene plastic, the clear roof material in our new tunnels is long-lasting and recyclable, allowing UV light to pass through and stimulate plants to grow more robustly.
Warwick AgriTech: Contributing to Shape the Future of Farming
Collaborators in WMG gave an introduction to Warwick AgriTech. This newly announced initiative combines the Crop Centre’s expertise in life sciences with world-class engineering at WMG. This will drive the development of technologies that are needed to support the future of agriculture.
Tasty Bean Shots
To finish the day, attendees were offered the chance to try a bean ‘shot’ – a bamboo boat containing marinated URBeans salad.
The UK Registered beans (URBeans) were created by Professor Eric Holub as part of his work to diversify British cooking using home-grown ingredients. A dry bean mix of Godiva and Capulet is available in Zero stores in Leamington Spa and Stratford-on-Avon. Find the recipe from the Eatwise Test Kitchen. It’s very tasty!
