Nuffield - Rothamsted Revisited

Well here's the deal, this picture demonstrates to me the challenge that we have set ourselves very clearly. Don't be mistaken though the 20 by 20 is in 20 years not by 2020.  The aim of the project at Rothamsted, under the main heading of 20:20 is to provide the knowledge-base and tools to increase UK wheat yield potential to 20 tonnes/ha in 20 years time.

I turned up on Thursday the 14th February to visit Dr Malcolm Hawkesford to start off with.  One of the main areas of interest I picked up on was the aspect of light capture.  Effectively as farmers we are turning sunlight into food, so how can we maximise that genetic potential?  Currently the yield gap between the recommended list varieties and what is produced on farm is getting wider.  Therefore we have the genetic potential to get to these higher yields, there must therefore be something holding back  the farm yields?  Not sure what that is yet but when I find it I will let you know!  Malcolm's team is working with other research organisations as part of a wider drive to learn more about wheat genetics and how yield is built.  One key aspect of this is Carbon Dioxide.  If more CO2 can get into the plant, faster and with the plant using less energy, more carbon can be manufactured and turned into grain.  The plants therefore become more efficient.  Climate change will result in more CO2 in the atmosphere so some yield improvement will come through this process anyway but not at the pace required to feed the worlds population.  One aspect I hadn't considered was looking at the quality of wheat being grown.  A higher yield will usually have a lower protein content (nitrogen dilution) so this may effect the desire to maximise wheat yield for some markets.

After a quick lunch I caught up with Professor Martin Parry, Head of Plant Science who is leading the project.  Martin explained the mathematical modelling that has been done to ascertain the maximum yield potential of wheat using the best characteristics form current varieties.  We also talked about the efficiencies of photosynthesis between different crops (wheat poor and maize good), about light interception and how the roots need enough water to maintain maximum photosynthesis.  This could be a limiting factor in the future.  If the plant has enough water though, increased photosynthesis will result in a better water use efficiency i.e. it uses less water per calorific output.  In order to negate the effects of a late season drought could varieties mature earlier, but would this compromise the requirement for a long slow grain fill, or looking the the research from the John Innes Centre, speeding up the time to flowering to help bring the whole process forward?  Lots of questions still be be investigated!  My thanks again to Martin and Malcolm for spending time telling me about their research.

20 by 20 Fact or Fiction - My Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust Study Topic

Here are a few questions that I regularly find myself thinking about:-

Why have the UK wheat yields plateaued?

Where is the next 'green revolution' going to come from?

How are we going to feed the estimated world population of 9.5Bn people by 2050?

How can we persuade the general public and the law makers of Europe that we need to use biological technology (new words for GM - Genetically Modified) to help feed the ever expanding world population?

What are the key ingredients to a world record wheat yield?

I think that is probably enough for me, for now, but I am sure that I will ask a lot more questions before I answer these ones!  Last July I filled in my application form to apply for a Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust award to look at my chosen subject (20t/Ha of Wheat in years time).  After the interviews in October the awards were handed out at the Nuffield Conference in November, (see previous blog).

I have to thank the Central Region Farmers Trust for sponsoring me on my scholarship.

So what happens next?  Well I am planning trips around the UK to talk to the scientists that are working on projects in this country.  I plan to visit, Rothamsted, The John Innes Centre, The James Hutton Institute, Cranfield and Bristol University.  My thoughts are to assess where the research is currently going in this country before looking at projects abroad.  I have to say that there are some great research projects happening here; I will have my work cut out to get round these institutes before the Contemporary Scholars Conference which starts on the 7th March in London.  I will see what I can do!

On the 7th of March all 22 of the 2013 Scholars and I think 2 of the 2012 scholars are meeting in London for a couple of days before heading out to Guelph, Ontario, Canada for the Contemporary Scholars Conference with all the other Internationals Scholars!  This will be an incredible experience and a fabulous opportunity to make some new friends and talk world farming for a week.

I hope to stay on in Canada to visit the University of Guelph, then the Experimental Farm in Ottawa and then a trip up to Quebec City to explore wheat projects there.  After that it's back to the farm here at Overbury.

My plans after that are a little loose, so I'm looking for contacts and idea's but I want to explore Oregon and Washington States where some high yielding wheat crops are produced, then onto CIMMYT in Mexico, where there is a lot of wheat and maize research.  After that, who knows you will just have to tune in and keep following, to see where I end up.

Rothamsted Research Facility

Yesterday I attended a fantastic site in Hertfordshire with our regional (West Midlands) Combinable Crops Board for the National Farmers Union (NFU)  The site is all over the newspapers at the moment due to the GM wheat trials that are being run there.  The site is of course Rothamsted where they have been at the forefront of Agricultural Research since 1843 when experiments were first conducted there by Sir John Bennet Lawes.  These experiments are still running today, known as the Broadbalk Experiment, and is testament to the incredible foresight of these pioneers of science and those that have followed.  Standing on the site with other farmers it is very easy to imagine farmers 100 years ago (and more) on the same spot thinking the same thoughts and try to solve, I suspect, very similar problems.  The trial site has some plots that have received no nitrogen for 160 years, other sites have received farm yard manure every year (hope they're not in a NVZ) and many different management regimes travel across the plots with different herbicide or pesticide applications on to see what impact they have.  The water draining from the plots can also be collected and monitored.

The trees in the distance are also part of the experiment, to see what would happen if farmers just abandoned the fields, how long it would revert to woodland and what species would thrive?

The plot above shows very clearly the effect of herbicide taking out many of the weeds that are taking nutrients and water away from the wheat crop.  Each year samples of straw, soil and grain are collected and stored for future examination. In total over 250,000 samples have been collected.  The soil could tell us when the Chernobyl accident occurred with increased radiation, with a time lag of 6 months.  It really is an incredible place.  It is only fitting then that the scientists there should be trialling the first GM trials in the country for nearly a decade.  The team led by Prof. John Picket CBE DSc FRS is trialing wheat that has been modified to give off warning pheromones (from a mint plant) that when released repel aphids and attract their natural enemies the parasitic wasps, who then lay eggs in the aphids killing the few stragglers off.   We as a country in line with the rest of the EU are lagging behind in the experimental research into these crops.  The EU is happy to import products that contain GMO's but do not want us to grow them here.  If there is a risk then why are we happy to export that risk to other countries?  It does seem a bit crazy to me. Food prices have increased by over 30% in the last 4 years and will only increase as the world population increases and weather effects limit the supply of food to the worlds population.  Only when the price of food; or the lack of it, puts pressure on the system will the EU then allow farmers to use this technology but by then it might be too late, with much of the research being conducted elsewhere in the world.

We were very lucky to actually be allowed onto the trial site, although the crop of Cadenza Spring Wheat, had only just been planted and therefore there was nothing for us to see.  The fencing, security and camera's have cost over £120,000 in a bid to try and keep any protesters out.  I just hope that the team are able to get through the trial so that we can actually learn about these techniques and see what advantage they offer us in a bid to feed a lot of very hungry mouths in the future.