Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
August 7, 2009
Well over seventy manufacturers
and exhibitors are now lined up for this year’s
Potatoes in Practice (PiP) hosted by the
Scottish Crop Research Institute
(SCRI), Scotland’s world-renowned centre for crop research.
The event will be held for the first time at SCRI’s recently
acquired Balruddery Farm near Fowlis in Angus on Thursday 13
August from 0930 to 1630.
It is the UK’s largest field trial event for the potato sector,
focussing on a crop which is worth £4 billion in consumer terms
and £700 million at the farm gate annually.
Despite days of torrential rain last year’s event attracted more
than 700 people involved in growing, packing, processing and
supply. It’s hoped this year’s turnout will exceed that figure.
Scotland’s Environment Minister, Roseanna Cunningham MSP said:
“Scotland is justifiably renowned for its high quality potato
production. This is largely due to the skills of our potato
growers combined with the Scottish Government's support, through
funding of research and development and the direct contribution
of Government scientists, policy-makers and inspectors.
"Potatoes in Practice is a great example of Government and
industry working in partnership to create a real Scottish
success story. Participation in events such as this helps to
ensure that Scotland will retain - and expand upon - its leading
position."
PiP consists of field tours, specialist seminars and a large
exhibition space. Hosted by SCRI, Scotland’s leading centre for
crop research, the event is sponsored by Potato Council. The
other key partners are the Scottish Agricultural College and CSC
Potatocare.
SCRI scientists at PiP will explain the advances being made that
will help benefit the industry. Dr Finlay Dale said: “A good
example of where science is taking us is in the use of molecular
markers.
“SCRI has developed markers for the selection of several
important disease-resistance and quality traits in potato. For
the first time in the U.K. we are now starting to deploy such
markers within breeding programmes here at SCRI.
“The world-wide Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium (PGSC),
which includes SCRI, is aiming to map the entire potato DNA
sequence by the end of the year 2010. The work being done at
SCRI will enable us to identify and understand the important
disease resistances and beneficial traits in potatoes that we
need for use in our conventional breeding programmes and will
allow us to manage these more efficiently to produce improved
varieties in a shorter time scale.”
Other key demonstrations and exhibits at PiP will trace the
history and lineage of the potato and most importantly, allow
growers to find out how the onset of climate change will affect
the risks they face from pests and pathogens such as
Phytophthora infestans (better known as potato or late blight)
that costs the industry millions of pounds.
In another development, it’s been announced that scientists
funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research
Council (BBSRC) believe they now have the blight-causing
pathogen in their sights.
Using pathogen genomics, Professor Paul Birch from the Division
of Plant Sciences, University of Dundee (based at SCRI) -
alongside researchers from Warwick HRI and the University of
Aberdeen - is looking at how the Phytophthora infestans pathogen
causes disease.
Professor Birch is working to accelerate breeding of more
durable, disease resistant potato varieties.
More PiP details are available at
www.scri.ac.uk/events/forthcomingevents/pip2009
SCRI is partly funded by the Rural and Environment Research
and Analysis Directorate of the Scottish Government. It is one
of five Main Research Providers that undertake research on the
Scottish Government programmes of research in the areas of
environment, agriculture and biology.
See also:
http://www.knowledgescotland.org |
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