The Royal Norfolk Showground would normally be a hive of activity at this time of the year, says Dr Belinda Clarke, Director of Agri-TechE, as she introduces a review of the Innovation Hub.
Mark Nicholas MBE, Managing Director of the RNAA, comments that with its online presence the Innovation Hub is keeping the flame alive for the show.
You are invited to review some of the highlights of Innovation Hubs from previous years and see updates on these stories.
The University of Essex has one of the UK’s leading plant productivity research groups, and impressive credentials in the area of plant research.
Crop Angel’s new aerial applicator offered the potential to extend the flight times for UAVs, allowing them to cover a greater crop area more cost-effectively and with greater precision.
A tracker developed by MoveTech and shown by the University of East Anglia has been used to track birds successfully and was being demonstrated at the show for use with livestock.
Delta-T Devices designs instruments for measuring and monitoring the environment, with a strong focus on precision irrigation, plant physiology, data logging and meteorology.
Smart irrigation resulted in a 7% increase in the yield of strawberries following commercial trial of a precision irrigation packaged by NIAB EMR with Delta-T Devices.
Bovine TB and Johne’s Disease are two devastating livestock diseases. PBD Biotech’s diagnostic Actiphage® is an accurate and specific blood test for these diseases.
Using a ‘FitBit’ for cows, Smartbell is able to detect changes in behaviour by individual animals that may indicate that they are in pain, becoming fertile, pregnant or unwell or not eating.
Ben Turner, President of the RNAA, was introduced by Ji Zhou to CropQuant and its ‘seeing eye’, a robotic eye that grows with the crop to provide insights into the growing conditions in the field.
Harper Adams University with their drone delivery system with the capability of carrying a cargo for ‘last mile delivery’, demonstrated to guests including HRH Countess of Wessex.
Warm, wet environments increase the prevalence of fungal infections. Work at The Sainsbury Laboratory is aimed at increasing resilience of crops to these major plant diseases.
A co-product from paper recycling could help farmers to improve soil health whilst building carbon stocks, according to trials by researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
Showcased at the 2019 Innovation Hub, Drone Ag’s Skippy Scout app is currently ten times faster than traditional crop walking methods, says founder Jack Wrangham.
BBRO has been focussed on new approaches to mitigate the impact of withdrawal of neonicotinoid seed treatments, which has left the UK sugar beet crop exposed to the aphid-borne infection.
