Bioscience firm collaborates with unis on crop research
AGRICULTURAL bioscience firm Plant Impact has announced a new wheat-focussed research collaboration alongside Rothamsted Research, The University of Nottingham and Lancaster University.
The Preston-based AIM-listed company, which leads research and development to create products growers can rely on to improve yield and quality of their crops, said it is working with the universities to investigate heat stress in wheat and the underlying plant physiology involved.
The project will take the form of two distinct workstreams, a three-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Lancaster University and a DTP iCase PhD studentship with the University of Nottingham.
This knowledge will aid the development of new chemical crop enhancement technologies to help plants thrive in hotter environments while maintaining their crop quality and yield.
Wheat yields across the world are adversely affected by high temperatures and current estimates suggest that for wheat, barley and maize, the combined annual losses caused by recent global warming are about $5bn a year.
Heat stress experienced by wheat crops around the time of flowering can cause a particularly significant reduction in those yields.
Steve Adams, R&D director at Plant Impact, said: “This prestigious academic partnership signals the start of a key wheat R&D programme for Plant Impact. Our experience of successful partnerships and developing effective crop enhancement products that help plants mitigate the effects of abiotic stress has lead us to investigate how else we can extend understanding of key world crops.
“Heat stress poses a real and growing risk to farmers across the world relying on consistent wheat yields to maintain the profitability of their farms and to contribute to a steady flow of this key food crop for our growing population.”
