SporeID (Innovative disease monitoring and diagnostics for improved efficiency of crop production)

The aim of this project is to minimise the impact of disease on yield of the UK sugar beet crop which is worth approximately £240M per year. Yield potential of the UK sugar beet crop is c.130 t/ha compared to an average yield of 70t/ha. One of the factors responsible for this yield gap is foliar diseases which can reduce yield by more than 50% and, whilst current practices prevent yield losses of this magnitude, it is estimated that 10% yield is lost to foliar diseases, representing £24M per year. Climate change may lead to increasing pressure from existing diseases and 'new' emerging diseases, which require increased crop protection. This project will bring together novel diagnostic tools, crop disease modelling and yield forecasting to underpin grower decision making and investigate the potential impact of emerging diseases on the crop.