The Royal Norfolk Show celebrates 175 years in 2022. As the Show was established to showcase innovation, it is fitting that a feature of the show is the Innovation Hub, hosted by Agri-TechE in partnership with the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association (RNAA) and sponsored by BBRO.
Sadly, a review of the challenges facing farmers in 1847 would be recognised today.
- Concerns over food security – The Irish Potato Famine (1845-1852) was a period of mass starvation caused by blight, and the impact was increased by single-crop dependency. Ironically, imported wheat that could have been fed to people was used as cattle feed.
- Improving soil health – An act that would recompense tenant farmers who invested their time and capital into improving soil health was rejected by parliament. The former Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel commented that although in principle there could be no objection, it would be “impossible to legislate in a manner likely to satisfy landowners.”
- Yield prediction – Thomas Milner Gibson, former MP for Ipswich, led a movement to repeal taxes on knowledge and was pushing for an improvement to agricultural statistics so it would be possible to obtain a return from each tenant farmer for land under cultivation “approximate to the quantity of grain likely to be produced during the year, by estimating the quantities usually produced from the various qualities of soil, taking into account the sort of weather prevailing.”
Experts from the research community that participated in the Innovation Hub in 2021 reflect on how science is supporting innovative solutions.
Q. Food security is a continuing concern – do you think that the UK has potential to become more self-sufficient in food?
“While it is highly unlikely that we could become fully self-sufficient, there are some crops in which we are more or less already self-sufficient,” comments Christine Raines, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at University of Essex. She gives the examples of staple foods such as wheat, barley, oats and potatoes. “For meat we are self-sufficient in lamb but not in other meats, so a way to improve on our current level would be to eat more plant-based products rather than beef and pork. Improving crop yields and management will be needed to help with this.”
Christine’s colleague Tracy Lawson, Professor in Plant Physiology, adds: “We also need to consider the impacts of predicted changes to climate on yields and in the geographical distribution of which crops are grown where.”
She comments that work in the Plant Productivity group is exploring strategies to improve crop yield through increasing efficiency of photosynthesis, and also looking at how plants respond to stress such as heat and water availability.
Q. Blight and single-crop dependency led to the Irish Potato famine – do you think there is a risk of such a situation again?
Christine Raines continues: “The threat from disease is real and new strategies are being developed that could help to mitigate against this, but we need to embrace fully the new breeding technologies such as gene editing if we are to secure our food for the future.”
Hayley London from the Earlham Institute agrees: “Plant genomics has revolutionised the agricultural industry, providing a greater understanding of desirable traits and
enabling targeted approaches to breeding and crop improvement.”
By studying crop diversity and analysing the genes responsible for adaption and yield it is possible to breed crops with resilience to future climatic scenarios.
“We analyse how natural variation can be reclaimed from the wild ancestors and relatives of the most important crop species to help crop breeders select beneficial traits in diverse species essential for food.”
Hayley gives the example of how the organisation has played an integral part in decoding the bread wheat genome, creating a ‘genomic supermarket’ of wheat databases for breeders. The Earlham Institute is also part of the consortium ‘Designing Future Wheat’, collaborating with world-renowned UK institutions to increase wheat resilience.
Q. Improving soil health is core to the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme.
ELMs aims to incentivise farmers to reduce negative environmental impacts and improve ‘ecosystem services’ such as pollinators, fresh water etc. but it will need new tools and techniques in order to measure, for example, soil health, sequestered carbon, biodiversity – is there agri-tech to support this?
Hayley continues: “A key element of ELMs is payment for ‘additionality’: an improvement that is above that which would have happened without an intervention, but this can be difficult to assess objectively.
“Genomics can support the creation of baselines for measuring improvements in soil health and biodiversity.”
Examples of where genomics can provide answers include:
Metagenomic analysis – Healthy soil contains an abundance of microorganisms that facilitate nutrient cycles, carbon transformations and energy flows. Measuring the diversity of the soil microbiome – metagenomics – can therefore be used as a soil quality indicator. For example, The De Vega Group at the Earlham Institute is working with Ecospray on the development of Nemguard, a new biopesticide that uses a garlic extract to repel nematodes and is using metagenomics to understand the impact of this biopesticide on the soil microbial community.
RevMet – Beneficial insect pollinators are also in decline due in part to a reduction in wildflower meadows that offer a variety of food through the season. The Leggett Group at the Earlham Institute together with the University of East Anglia have developed the technology ‘RevMet’, which can analyse the pollen collected by bees, to evaluate the ratios of different species of plant available to the insects. RevMet provides a tool to measure the evidence that changes to land use are making a positive environmental impact, such as boosting biodiversity, improving soil quality, and water management.
Air-Seq – Early detection of pathogens can enable a timely and targeted approach, reducing the need for pesticides. The Leggett Group is also working on a surveillance method to identify spores of fungi and other pathogens in the air. The technology can provide early warning of new threats and provide better understanding of how diseases are spread.
Q. By altering land/soil management practices, could agriculture make a substantial contribution to carbon capture and storage efforts?
It is the mission of ELMs to deliver environmental benefits while providing farmers and other land managers with incentives, and financial reward for delivering essential ecosystem services while protecting UK natural capital.
A key soil-derived ecosystem service is carbon storage. However, Brian Reid, Professor of Soil Science at the University of East Anglia (UEA), says: “when it comes to soil carbon, not all carbon is equal! Soil carbon credits must be tethered to stable carbon that is not easily degraded and therefore sustains long-term carbon sequestration.”
Brian’s colleague Sam Keenor explains that to enhance soil carbon storage, a source of economic remuneration to pay for soil carbon gains is required: “Such an approach will incentivise soil re-carbonisation practices over ‘business as usual’.
“A successful soil carbon trading platform has three elements: an attractive and fair price for carbon; a robust and trusted soil carbon accounting and trading platform with audit system to prevent double accounting; and assurance that carbon storage will be long term.”
Sam observes that currently, soil carbon is being traded in a fledgling market for around the £10-£15 price mark (per 1 tonne CO2e). “Such a price does not reflect the true value of soil carbon, nor does this reconcile with outgoings faced by farmers in achieving this sequestration.”
Q. Agri-Tech is emerging rapidly – how can farmers keep on top of developments?
Many of the farmer members of Agri-TechE have been involved in trials of new technologies, giving them early awareness of new developments and their potential.
Farmer Stephen Temple has been part of the Innovative Farmers Digestate project coordinated by Agri-TechE. He comments that being part of the agri-tech ecosystem provides mental stimulation and new ideas: “I am a research engineer trying to do some farming. I think the ability to see something new in an old problem and being able to approach challenges with a range of viewpoints and knowledge, from farmers and scientists alike, will potentially be the key to unlocking the future of farming.”
Learning is life-long at the new School of Sustainable Food and Farming, based at Harper Adams University, which is offering a range of short courses and research to help upskill and inform the current workforce, as well as feeding into other undergraduate degrees.
A mix of on-farm learning and virtual courses developed and run by the UK’s leading experts in agronomy, veterinary practice and nutrition, the courses will cover a wide range of topics including carbon sequestration, the potential of green energy production on farms (including anaerobic digestion), and understanding the value of carbon.
Professor Michael Lee, Vice-Chancellor of Harper Adams University, said: “The way Britain – and the world – farms is changing, and the future is upon us.
“Everyone – farmers, producers, and consumers – need to understand that the future sustainable production of our food is critical.
“What we are doing here is pioneering, and it will help the UK to lead the world in agricultural thinking and practice.
“The school will educate and support the sector to make the right decisions within their businesses to realise sustainable agriculture and a healthy agri-food sector.”
Innovation Hub at the Royal Norfolk Show 2022
The Innovation Hub, hosted by Agri-TechE in partnership with the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association (RNAA) and sponsored by BBRO, provides an opportunity to talk directly to researchers and technologists involved in emerging agri-tech and to see demonstrations of the latest technology.
Some of the organisations in the hub this year will include:
- Howseman Agriculture, irrigation experts, will be discussing trials of an innovative drip tape for potato and onion farmers that has the potential to deliver water, fertiliser and plant protection directly to the plant.
- NIAB will be showcasing its crop research activities in Norfolk and Suffolk, based at Morley Farms.
- Safe Ag Systems will be demonstrating its software tool that simplifies compliance to health and safety regulations.
- PfBio – sustainable plant disease control using soil bacteria.
- BBRO – latest developments in sugar beet cultivation.