New research initiative launched to accelerate development of improved crops

A new research initiative has been launched to accelerate the development of improved crops with higher yields and consistent, high quality products. The £6M Crop Improvement Research Club (CIRC) is led by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the UK's largest public funder of agri-food research and includes the Scottish Government and 13 companies representing plant breeders, farmers and food processors. The Club will focus on funding research to improve oilseed rape, barley and wheat for human and animal consumption.

Both the public sector and company members of the Club are contributing to the total research fund. £6M of funding is available to research teams to conduct research to improve our understanding of yield and quality traits in the CIRC crops and the genetic and environmental factors that affect them.

Specific challenges that CIRC aims to tackle include increasing the efficiency of nutrient use by plants, understanding seed structure, better understanding germination and investigating factors that lead to crop spoilage.

Dr Celia Caulcott, BBSRC Director of Innovation and Skills, said: "Delivering food security is going to require partnership between public research funders and the private sector R&D. There is huge potential to use science to improve key UK crops to benefit farmers and consumers. This includes the potential to increase volume and nutritional quality of food produced and reducing losses to pests and diseases.

"Through the Crop Improvement Research Club, plant breeding companies are working with BBSRC and the Scottish Government to fund projects that will make an impact on the quality and yields of wheat, barley and oilseed rape varieties that farmers will be growing in the future."

The company members of CIRC provide important input to the strategic direction of the Club's research. This ensures that the Club is broadly directing its funding to areas where the commercial sector sees scientific bottlenecks. This means the funding pot is being used to tackle problems that will have benefits for food producers and wider society.

Simon Hook, Chair of CIRC and Research Manager at HGCA, said: "BBSRC's research and technology club model has worked effectively for a number of other sectors. With the current emphasis on food security and the need to find ways to provide a growing population sustainably with affordable, high quality food, it is the right time to use this approach for crop improvement. The company members play an important role alongside BBSRC and the Scottish Government. In addition to their contributions to the funding pot they will fully contribute through the steering group to the direction of the Club and work with funded scientists to translate the outcomes."

SOURCE Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council