Log in
University of Nottingham (UoN) research into optimum plant populations and lodging in wheat has led to advances in agronomic practices for winter wheat in the UK, in particular changes in the way that seed rates are calculated (by number, rather than weight) to establish optimum plant populations. Most significantly, growers and agronomists now have an improved understanding of the crop characteristics that affect wheat lodging risk and have made changes to crop management to minimise the problem. This has led to reduced incidence of lodging in the UK, thereby protecting yield and quality of UK's most important arable crop.
A range of small specimen creep testing methods have been developed through research carried out at the University of Nottingham (UoN). These tests are being used in the following ways: RWE npower has used the impression creep test on approximately 180 samples taken from its power plants in the UK, France and Holland; AMEC has installed two impression creep test rigs for testing nuclear power plant materials for a range of EDF Energy power plants; Laborelec is using the small ring techniques for evaluating nickel based super alloys in turbine blades for clients in Belgium and Holland and the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI) has used the small specimen techniques, with the assistance of UoN, on power plant structures in the USA.
Research over the last 20 years by Jane Nicklin (née Faull) and her research group has established expertise in fungi, which has led to impacts in three areas: impacts on the licensing of commercial products for the control of insect pests which affect food crops, which have led to a new product being licensed in the US to the benefit of vine growers; impacts on heritage conservation, where the work has benefitted English Heritage, the National Trust and many other conservation groups; and impacts on public awareness and media engagement with science, in particular through her work with Channel 4's How Clean is your House? in 2009.
Impact: Economic: The first fungicide-based control schemes minimising UK barley yield losses (saving approx. 516K tonnes / £95.1M per annum). A risk assessment method, which minimised pesticide usage.
Significance: Barley is the second most popular cereal crop grown in the UK — in 2012, 5.52 million tonnes of barley were grown (market value £1.02 billion). The research led to savings to the UK farming industry of ~£5.4 million per annum
Beneficiaries: Farmers, malting and brewing industries, UK tax revenue.
Attribution: Drs. Oxley, Havis, Hughes, Fountaine, and Burnett (SRUC) identified the pathogen and produced a field test for early identification of infestation.
Reach: Barley growing, malting and brewing sectors, seed and agrochemical industries UK-wide and in Ireland.
Brassica production contributed £245.7m to the UK economy in 2012 and is growing year on year.i Research described below has led to the development of simple to use hand-held devices which enable brassica growers to identify the presence of a specific plant disease in the air or soil. With this knowledge, the grower can make an informed decision about when to plant a new crop or to spray an existing crop. This benefits the grower economically through a decrease in losses to disease and lower pesticide costs. Beyond the benefits for the grower, the reduction in pesticide use is consistent with UK and European policy on the environment.
Durham has a long-standing record of research into improving the resistance of crop plants towards pests, which includes pioneering work on genetic engineering of plants for insect resistance. The CpTI gene developed in Durham for enhancing insect resistance in transgenic crops has had a major impact on Chinese agriculture, due to the widespread deployment of GM cotton containing genes encoding Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin and CpTI. The SGK 321 transgenic cotton line was approved for commercial growing in China in 1999, and by the current REF period Bt/CpTI cotton was grown on approximately 0.5 million hectares of land, representing approximately 15% of the total transgenic cotton grown (which in turn represented 67% of total cotton production). The economic value of Bt/CpTI cotton is estimated as approx. £600 million per year.
The Sinai Baton Blue is the world's smallest butterfly, and is restricted to the St. Katherine Protectorate in the South Sinai region of Egypt. Research by Francis Gilbert's group on climate change and biodiversity in Egypt surveyed populations of the butterfly for the first time and ensured it received IUCN Critically Endangered status. The butterfly became the focus of biodiversity awareness campaigns in Egypt: appearing on a stamp, in Government-backed educational programmes in schools, and as the flagship species for conservation in Egypt's most important National Park. Current work contributes to international conservation of this extremely rare species and its host-plant, respecting indigenous Bedouin knowledge, benefitting their tribal community, and ensuring international conservation strategies incorporate local pastoralist traditions to sustain the genetic diversity of the planet.
Research carried out at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) since 1998 has led to the establishment of the ladybird, Chilocorus nigritus, as a viable biocontrol agent (BCA) in UK glasshouses. However, integrated pest management (IPM) programmes involving C. nigritus sometimes inexplicably fail. The specific impact claimed here relates to research at CCCU, in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and the Natural History Museum, which has improved the efficacy of utilising C. nigritus for biocontrol.
Specifically, this research has: 1) optimised protocols for growth and use of C. nigritus, 2) resulted in changes in practice at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and 3) changed the advice given by the companies selling C. nigritus as a biocontrol agent.
Carotenoids (e.g. β-carotene, provitamin A) are antioxidants which are essential in the human diet and which reduce the onset of chronic diseases. Research in the unit on the carotenoid pathway has provided the tools and strategies to deliver foods with increased levels of nutritional carotenoids. This has led to the production of novel food supplements and to Golden Rice (GR), a humanitarian product aimed at alleviating Vitamin A deficiency in the developing world. Field and intervention trials have shown that GR is effective and its production feasible. The research has led to beneficial impacts on health and welfare, international development, commerce, public understanding and education.
Impacts: I) Improved provision of environmental services in Belize, including the creation of plant reference collections / databases and the training of conservation professionals and students. II) Land-management policy formation by the Government of Belize and NGOs.
Significance and reach: Over the period 2009 - July 2013 there has been a step-change in the quality of biodiversity monitoring carried out by NGOs and the Government of Belize; including the latter being better able to meet international reporting requirements. Over the same period, 40 conservation professionals have been trained in Belize.
Underpinned by: Research into savanna plant diversity, led by the University of Edinburgh (1996 - 2012).