NIAB

Jonathan Sweet, Luke Palmer, Emily Cooledge and Lydia Smith (web)

#ATW21 Friday: Carbon avoidance or carbon capture?

A number of technologies to help avoid or reduce carbon emissions are in development at the Eastern Agri-Tech Innovation Hub, and these were featured in the #ATW21 event hosted by NIAB. From Inspro’s automated bioconverter system using black soldier flies and food waste, to Cambond’s valorisation of low grade carbon materials (such as brewers’ spent grain, straw, hemp fibres and paper waste sludge) for the construction industry, and the hydroponic vertical farming system funded through the Interreg Hy4Dense project.

12/11/2021

Backpack LiDAR used for the first time in field phenotyping

A backpack LiDAR device was used to overcome limitations in mobility and scalability possessed by other phenotyping platforms.

Prof Ji Zhou, Head of Data Sciences at NIAB has used LiDAR to provide large-scale 3D crop phenotyping in the field, overcoming one of the major bottlenecks in plant breeding.

24/09/2021

Agri-Tech Week 2020 NIAB: Soil health and the circular economy – a sustainable future for agriculture

From farm waste to cover crops, bacterial inoculum and more, this practical, evidence-based webinar will be sharing outputs of strategic projects.

12/11/2020

Agri-Tech Week 2020 – join the discussions

“The changes to soil health have been remarkably rapid”, says Dr Lydia Smith, Head of Innovation Farm & Innovation Hub NIAB, who is hosting one of the Agri-Tech Week 2020 events; many of which will discuss new findings.

02/11/2020

Launch of the Crop Science Centre – the start of a special journey

The new Crop Science Centre brings together excellence in discovery science from the Dept of Plant Sciences with NIAB’s unparalleled expertise in applied crop research. At the launch, director Professor Giles Oldroyd said: “We are excited to be opening this new Centre, which can drive the transformative change we so desperately need.”

05/10/2020

Cambridge agritech incubator Barn4 on NIAB Park Farm gains funding

Barn4, a purpose-built Cambridge agritech incubator that will give start-ups access to sector specific expertise and laboratory facilities is to be co-located on the NIAB Park Farm site in Histon. Tenants will be benefit from access to the recently redeveloped Park Farm field research station, which includes two new large research and office buildings and state-of-the-art research glasshouses.

24/08/2020

Digitisation becomes the ‘new normal’ at the virtual Innovation Hub

“The agri-tech innovation pipeline remains full,” comments Dr Belinda Clarke, Director of Agri-TechE, speaking about the range of agri-tech innovation demonstrated at the Royal Norfolk Show Innovation Hub, this year…

06/07/2020

Investigating New Farming Systems for combinable crops: NIAB at the Innovation Hub

New strategies for soil phosphate management are being assessed against a 120-year-old experiment in Suffolk, led by NIAB. Strategies include cover crops, tillage and soil amendments…

01/07/2020

Latest thinking on phosphate management to benefit from long-term trial

New strategies for soil phosphate management are being assessed against a 120-year-old experiment in Suffolk, led by NIAB. Strategies include cover crops, tillage and soil amendments…

01/07/2020

Innovation Hub at the Royal Norfolk Show goes virtual

The Royal Norfolk Show may have been cancelled this year but we are keen that the ‘show must go on’ and are recreating the Innovation Hub experience virtually. It will offer an opportunity to drop in remotely to hear a topical discussion and discuss an emerging technology or a challenge directly with a technologist or researcher.

26/05/2020

Baby leaf – a growing resource from Field to Tunnel

Baby leaf salad – a growing resource from field to tunnel

Evolving salad genetics, innovation in hydroponics, field cultivation of baby leaf, novel cultivation practices and market trends are to be discussed in this interactive workshop hosted by NIAB.

Speakers will include: Elsom Seeds, Saturn Bioponics, NIAB and the University of Essex.

08/11/2019

Farm-led R&D offers more than numbers

Farming businesses that participate in research have ‘first footer’ advantage when it comes to the adoption of new techniques and equipment but it also requires an investment of time and resources and this can be difficult to balance with the demands of the day job. However the benefits are far reaching it was revealed at a recent Pollinator.

30/09/2019