A facility using gene-editing technology to improve quality, resilience and sustainability of vegetable crops has opened at the University of Warwick.

An international study has identified molecules that could prove key targets in crop resistance.

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 scientists at the University of Warwick.

The waste from larvae production could be used as a crop fertiliser should commercial insect farms get off the ground in the UK. This is the concept that researchers at the University of Warwick and Durham University are investigating as part of a major government-funded project to look at the viability of rearing insects for animal feed in the UK.

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