Cranfield/EMR Horticultural KE Fellowship
Lead Research Organisation:
CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY
Department Name: School of Water, Energy and Environment
Abstract
Activity 1: This will involve; mapping and bi-annual updating of the NERC/BBSRC research base; identification of key individuals/groups in target organizations; characterization of HAPI related research activities; recording of existing agri-business collaboration; visits to key individuals/groups [individual and/or more regionally based meetings]; bi-annual 'Sandpit' events held at CU to which relevant academic and industry representatives will be invited to formulate innovate research proposals targeted at meeting knowledge gaps ( A-6).
Activity 2: The KE Fellow/s will strengthen their understanding of existing BBSRC/NERC collaborative programmes e.g. HAPI, GFS-SARISA & SARIC and related NERC programmes e.g. 'Soil Security' initiative and other funding e.g. KTPs, Agri-Tech Catalyst etc. These initiatives will be mapped to BBSRC/NERC collaborative programmes to add value and up-scale benefits/impacts.
Activity 3: The KE Fellow/s in consultation with the HAPI Steering Group and Horticulture Innovation Partnership (HIP) will identify potential collaboration opportunities between industry and the research community. These will be encouraged at Bi-annual 'Sandpit' events; Follow-up meetings for the development of high quality, innovative projects.
Activity 4: Identification of agri-business, levy board, trade association and retailer KE pathways and their optimization. Embedding of outputs from HAPI will be achieved through these KE pathways and submission of articles to professional practice journals. EMR has agreement that any outputs can be publicised in the HDC news magazine and weekly HDC e-news. Arrangements will be made for outputs from HAPI to be presented at key industry events.Research outputs will be packaged in a form appropriate and accessible to HAPI/relevant industry, their supply chains, and, where appropriate, to the wider business community through; working with relevant communication groups & researchers to help researchers to break down their work into key messages; providing researchers with industry target areas of interest on which to hook ideas. The Head of Communications at EMR has agreed to provide additional advice in this area (previously CEH Communications Manager). Dr Jay has also taught on the BBSRC communication and PR courses. Research outputs will be translated into business decision support tools that directly benefit business performance, risk strategy and environmental management through; computer-based information systems providing critical data to help make more effective business decisions, e.g. predictive analysis, data mining/integration/modelling.
Activity 5: Analysis of the knowledge gaps identified in the Horticultural Development Company (HDC) funded project 'A gap analysis of soil management research and knowledge transfer in horticulture to inform future research programmes' and 'Gap analysis on the future requirements of soil and water management in England' for the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) will form the basis for the identification of industry knowledge gaps and prioritization of research opportunities.
Activity 6: Key NERC/BBSRC research base as well as pertinent industry contacts [focus on fresh produce] will be invited to constitute a working group (WG). It is envisaged that this will be established 6-months after project outset. Thereafter the WG will meet quarterly.
Activity 7: The KE Fellow/s will report to the HAPI Steering Group as stipulated in project brief. Further, through acquiring an in depth understanding of knowledge gaps & research priorities the KE Fellow/s will be able to participate in future investment planning & scoping of funding calls. Based on information gathered under Activity 1-5 a report will be delivered by Dec. 2015 that exposes the knowledge gaps, research translation opportunities and barriers, priorities, and the capability of the research base to develop high quality BBSRC/NERC interface
Activity 2: The KE Fellow/s will strengthen their understanding of existing BBSRC/NERC collaborative programmes e.g. HAPI, GFS-SARISA & SARIC and related NERC programmes e.g. 'Soil Security' initiative and other funding e.g. KTPs, Agri-Tech Catalyst etc. These initiatives will be mapped to BBSRC/NERC collaborative programmes to add value and up-scale benefits/impacts.
Activity 3: The KE Fellow/s in consultation with the HAPI Steering Group and Horticulture Innovation Partnership (HIP) will identify potential collaboration opportunities between industry and the research community. These will be encouraged at Bi-annual 'Sandpit' events; Follow-up meetings for the development of high quality, innovative projects.
Activity 4: Identification of agri-business, levy board, trade association and retailer KE pathways and their optimization. Embedding of outputs from HAPI will be achieved through these KE pathways and submission of articles to professional practice journals. EMR has agreement that any outputs can be publicised in the HDC news magazine and weekly HDC e-news. Arrangements will be made for outputs from HAPI to be presented at key industry events.Research outputs will be packaged in a form appropriate and accessible to HAPI/relevant industry, their supply chains, and, where appropriate, to the wider business community through; working with relevant communication groups & researchers to help researchers to break down their work into key messages; providing researchers with industry target areas of interest on which to hook ideas. The Head of Communications at EMR has agreed to provide additional advice in this area (previously CEH Communications Manager). Dr Jay has also taught on the BBSRC communication and PR courses. Research outputs will be translated into business decision support tools that directly benefit business performance, risk strategy and environmental management through; computer-based information systems providing critical data to help make more effective business decisions, e.g. predictive analysis, data mining/integration/modelling.
Activity 5: Analysis of the knowledge gaps identified in the Horticultural Development Company (HDC) funded project 'A gap analysis of soil management research and knowledge transfer in horticulture to inform future research programmes' and 'Gap analysis on the future requirements of soil and water management in England' for the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) will form the basis for the identification of industry knowledge gaps and prioritization of research opportunities.
Activity 6: Key NERC/BBSRC research base as well as pertinent industry contacts [focus on fresh produce] will be invited to constitute a working group (WG). It is envisaged that this will be established 6-months after project outset. Thereafter the WG will meet quarterly.
Activity 7: The KE Fellow/s will report to the HAPI Steering Group as stipulated in project brief. Further, through acquiring an in depth understanding of knowledge gaps & research priorities the KE Fellow/s will be able to participate in future investment planning & scoping of funding calls. Based on information gathered under Activity 1-5 a report will be delivered by Dec. 2015 that exposes the knowledge gaps, research translation opportunities and barriers, priorities, and the capability of the research base to develop high quality BBSRC/NERC interface
People |
ORCID iD |
| Lynda Deeks (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
| Description | Consultation of the horticulture and potato sectors has identified the following: • The top four priorities for the horticulture and potato sectors are: 1. Crop protection 2. Sustainability 3. Labour 4. Soil resource • There is an enthusiasm within the horticulture and potato sectors to contribute to research that will benefit their sectors. • Historically low food prices combined with rising costs means the horticulture and potato sectors have limited surpluses cash to invest into research, however, these sectors are keen to be involved through in-kind contributions (time, land and workforce). • The horticulture and potato sectors feel that they need funding models that will attract and maintain expertise in the UK that can support them. • Opportunities are required that will bring horticulture, potato and research sectors together, in order to share ideas and develop appropriate research questions. • Focal centres of expertise need to be maintained through financial support. • The horticulture and potato sectors feel that their sectors are overlooked in generic agricultural research calls because they do not have the scale of representation that the arable sector has. |
| Exploitation Route | Consultation activities have been compiled into reports and summaries to feedback the results to the community, and for businesses, and policy makers to evidence future strategy and investment. Over the duration of the Fellowship it was possible to develop a good understanding about how to achieve knowledge exchange with a wide cross-section of the horticulture and potato food chain. Approaches used during the Fellowship have perpetuated post Fellowship and have also been adopted by colleagues at Cranfield. Key challenges for the horticulture and potato industry, identified as part of the Fellowship, have been used to develop project proposals both directly funded by industry and applying for funding in collaboration with industry. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |
| Description | ACTIVITIES, OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS OF THE KE FELLOSHIP OVERVIEW: The focus of the third year of our Fellowship has been engagement with the HAPI community, hosting a science event that brought Research Council science and the horticulture and potato industry together. The aim of this event was to identify opportunities to bring industry and scientists together to stimulate mutually beneficial collaboration. During this time we have also sought out opportunities of engagement with the wider horticulture and potato industries in order to continue gathering information from as many representatives as possible. The new working plan for the Horticulture Innovation Partnership (HIP) was not delivered and as no clear guidance was available from the HIP, our Fellowship has focused on other aspects that were not directly driven by the HIP. The primary relationship between HIP and our Fellowship remains our activity with the HAPI project events. SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES: 1. HLH Vegetable Conference, Lincolnshire, 21st February 2017 Presentation to industry group The Horticultural KE Fellow was invited to give a talk about 'Soil Management in Vegetable Production' to the HLH Vegetable Conference. However, the KE Fellow was also included, as part of the presentation, opportunities of how to get involved with science and emphasised the advantages this could bring including getting research done that was of relevance to them (i.e. crop specific and of direct economic benefit) and direct feedback of research to their community. Most of the audience (ca. 80) were agronomists or advisers who had responsibility for multiple farm businesses. In conversations after the presentation it became clear that attendees had chosen to come to the conference in order to could keep abreast of new ideas and that pertinent information would be used in their roles. They were therefore able to feedback information to a much wider audience than was present on the day. They could also raise issues/concerns on behalf of the farmers that they advised. The horticultural industry has a conference season that runs from about October until March. During this time there are a number of events at which research is discussed and there is potential for a much wider section of the scientific community to tap into these events. 2. Vegetable Consultancy Association, visit to Cranfield University, 1st March Hosted an open day event for this group At the Vegetable Consultancy Association (VCA) conference in November 2016 the Horticultural KE Fellow invited the group to visit Cranfield and to show them the Crop Health and Protection (CHAP; soil health facility) and The Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre (Agri-EPI) assets held at Cranfield. These centres were funded under the Agri-Tech strategy and represent collaboration between academia and industry. They are facilities built specifically with industry academic collaboration in mind. The Horticultural KE Fellow hosted the visit, which included organising colleagues to give the VCA group presentations on the type of scientific work undertaken at Cranfield that has direct significance to the agricultural and horticultural industries. The group were then given a guided tour of the CHAP and Agri-EPI facilities hosted at Cranfield. Following the tour the group were asked to comment on the facilities and were encouraged to discuss potential projects that they saw the facilities being able to address from their perspective. Actions from this meeting included keeping the VCA advised of potential funding opportunities they could benefit from with respect to undertaking research that is relevant to them. Ideas presented on the day will be considered and, where appropriate, worked up into proposals in collaboration with the VCA. 3. HAPI meeting, Manchester, 8-9th March 2017 Designed (with input from all Horticulture KE Fellows) and ran the interactive breakout session at this meeting. Lessons learned were fed into other breakout sessions throughout 2017. The Horticulture KE Fellows contributed to the overall planning of the March 2017 HAPI event but were primarily responsible for planning an interactive breakout session that would enable networking amongst participants and identify shared interests that could potentially lead to new or enhanced partnerships that support innovation by industry. The final proposed interactive breakout session focused on 'Identifying strategic priorities of the fresh produce supply chain' and was used to gather the HAPI community participants opinions on: 1. Opportunities and challenges faced by the UK fresh produce supply chain that could be addressed by collaborative research between research groups and industry 2. Identifying the communities experience of working with overseas countries 3. Opportunities and challenges facing developing countries that could be addressed by collaborative research projects joining academia, business and ODA partners 4. Different approaches to overcoming specific challenges The participants (ca. 80) were asked to undertake specific tasks and report their options using flipcharts and sticky-notes. Part of the task included using a cognitive mapping exercise in order to stimulate discussion and explore participant's opinions in relation to key challenges facing the fresh produce industry. The cognitive maps enabled each table to consider in more detail specific challenges in relation to the UK fresh produce sector and to produce cognitive maps showing the components of the challenge, gaps and barriers perpetuating the challenge, and actions and help required to address these challenges. Cognitive maps have been widely used to engage with stakeholder groups to systematically collect and represent knowledge and are seen as a useful tool for collaborative discussions. We split the breakout task between the two Fellowships including the overseas exercise and the UK opportunities and challenges exercises. A combined report which collated the information collected as part of this breakout exercise has been drafted by the Fellows and has been submitted (August 2017 Ref. Item 11) for consideration and feedback. As part of the overall event our Fellowship also produced a poster reporting back to the HAPI community outcomes of the March 2016 HAPI breakout sessions that our Fellowship had organised. 4. Centre of Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), Cross disciplinary science exchange meeting, Wallingford, 22nd March 2017 This event was initiated and coordinated by our Fellowship with support from other Horticulture KE Fellows. It was hosted by CEH. This event was organised in order to highlight key areas of CEH (NERC) research and explore how areas of expertise could be transferred into applied research science in the horticulture and potato sector. Key presenters were as follows: • Dr Matthew Heard gave an overview of CEH science of relevance to the horticulture and potato supply chain. • Dr Ed Moorhouse, Agri-food Solutions Ltd, was invited to give an industry perspective of what scientific support was required • Emily Flowers (NERC, Senior Programme Manager, Innovation team) gave an overview of funding opportunities A series of interactive breakout sessions were then used to focus discussion around key areas including soils; insect interactions, ecology & control; interactions between agriculture and biodiversity; and water resources, ozone and air quality. Participants in each workshop were asked to identify challenges and knowledge gaps in the UK fresh produce supply chain (horticulture/potatoes) and ornamentals that could be addressed by collaborative research. They were also asked to identify opportunities that could be used to solve some of these challenges. Where time permitted groups went on to produce challenge maps showing challenges, gaps/barriers that currently exist (and make suggestions as to how these may be overcome), and actions or help needed to support the collaboration to achieve different aspects within the challenge map. Ca. 30 participants took part in the meeting, which included representatives from NERC institutes, research organisations, universities and professional bodies. Key points taken from the meeting included: • the need to work more on the water use efficiency of horticultural crops, at landscape scale, improved forecasting of water availability for irrigation strategy • for ozone, increasing awareness of damage of ozone in horticultural crops • irrigation verses the yield trade-off (quantity and quality) • need for long term projects to generate valuable data and yield effects; • reduce fragmentation of the UK horticulture space allowing better sharing of data were possible • investment in new ideas are only encouraged if we can demonstrate economic return so better economic valuation is needed • Crop Map to include horticultural crops • decisions to be taken holistically • soil biodiversity and its link with the yield and yield quality • social economics and links with precision technology • passport for soils needed especially for rented land to help encourage maintenance of soil health • quantifying the health of the soil, bring in previous studies into a toolbox so that the data can be quantified and then communicated • mapping biological, physical and chemical interactions of soil • better understanding of above and below ground interactions The information collected at this meeting is currently being written up as a report (draft report submitted in December 2017 for review by NERC, BBSRC and HIP project board members) and will be used to inform aspects of our KE Fellowship. 5. Water Sensitive Farming and Catchment Sensitive Farming event Norwich, 20th April 2017 Invited to this event by the Broads-authority to give a presentation and lead a field demonstration on water efficiency trials using the Wheel Track Roller and aqueel in potatoes. The potato industry faces challenges related to excess water causing erosion and a growing demand for irrigation. This event represented an important bridge in the knowledge gap in relation to water availability and demand. To minimise disease in potato crops, potatoes are often grown in a field 1 in 6 years or even less frequently. Because of this, the majority of potatoes are grown on rented land that is unfamiliar to the farmer and to which the farmer has a limited amount of time under which they have control of soil management and usually have no control over the soil management preceding their rental period. One of their greatest risks is therefore soil erosion due to poor soil health in the field and limited time to embed a risk control solution. Recently work has been undertaken by Cranfield colleagues and myself that are developing potential engineering solutions that can be used to help control runoff and may also result in increased soil water storage within the field. As potatoes rely on irrigation for product quality as well as final yield the proposed methods may help safeguard potato quality event if irrigation becomes limited. The presentation focused on presenting the experimental trails to potato growers and supermarket representatives and the field demonstration enabled more time for an exchange of ideas with the audience. 6. 50 young careers, Cranfield University, 9th May 2017 At this event, I engaged with school children to promote sustainable food production. An event linking the 50th anniversary of Milton Keynes and Cranfield School of Management was hosted at Cranfield University (see http://www.cranfieldsom50.com/50-young-careers.html). The event focused on engaging local school children and inspiring their career aspirations. One of the issues that was repeatedly mentioned throughout the horticultural and potato supply chain are concerns related to young people not seeing the food producing industry as a potential career pathway. The focus of my presentation at the 50 Young Careers event was sustainable food production. The Horticultural KE Fellow used the event to highlight the limited land resource that is globally available for food production and the pressures that that this land is under from competing demands due to population growth. The Horticultural KE Fellow also focused on soil as a finite resource. The event enabled engagement with children (ca. 14 years old) who were at the point of making key decisions about which exams to take. The event therefore offered an opportunity to talk about scientific carrier opportunities linked with the sustainable development of the horticultural and potato supply chain and hopefully inspire some of the participants to think about this as a potential career option. 7. Potato Processors' Association meeting, Cranfield, 6th June 2017 - Postponed until 24th August 2017 The Horticultural KE Fellow facilitated the hosting of this industry science meeting An outcome of the CEH meeting hosted by us in March 2017 was a request from the Potato Processors' Association (PPA) to host an event at which their members could learn more about the Crop Health & Protection (CHAP) Centre for Agricultural Innovation, formed as part of the Agri-Tech Strategy. Working with the Potato Producers Association (PPA), we arranged an event at which the Chair of CHAP would give an overview of the wider facilities and opportunities 'uniting industry and research partners to translate and apply science and new technology into practice'. Although the PPA had dictated the event date, at the last minute they had to postpone the event due to members sending apologies through. This event was rescheduled to 24th August 2017 (Ref. Item 10). A positive outcome was that I was able to link colleague at Cranfield University with the PPA Hall, which enabled them to have a discussion with her about a proposal they were planning to submit relating to water and agrifood. 8. Spot East Farm Walk, 6th July, Avenue Farm, Elveden Estate This was predominantly a field trial event for the potato industry. The Horticultural KE Fellow attended this event as an opportunity to discuss relevant issues pertaining to the KE Fellowship e.g. to gather the industry representatives opinions on challenges and opportunities for collaborative research and to help in the translation of relevant research to this sector. The later was achieved via a field demonstration run by Cranfield colleagues relating to reducing soil erosion from crop rows. Ca. 100 delegates, from potato producers, processors, seed companies, advisory groups and academia. The event was organised by AHDB. 9. TESCO Supplier Network, Soil management best practice with Produce World & Taylorgrown, Houghton Hall, 25th July 2017 The Horticultural KE Fellow was invited to give a talk on 'Achieving soil health through collaboration' and also to lead a field demonstration on soil health. The intention of this meeting was to encourage discussion between growers and producers, supermarkets and other parties with a wider environmental concern (Broads Authority). The discussions were aimed at improving understanding between the groups about the pressures of production, issues of soil degradation (specifically compaction and erosion), and the practicalities of prescribed management solutions. The goal was to find practical and economic production solutions to soil degradation and to make different actors and stakeholders in the region more aware of each other's roles and aspirations. Ca. 30 delegates, including growers, processors, Tesco's and Broads Authority 10. Potato Processors' Association (PPA) meeting at Cranfield, 24th August 2017 In response to a request by the PPA at the CEH meeting that we hosted in March 2017, I organised a programme of talks and a tour of the Crop Heath & Protection (CHAP) facility hosted by Cranfield for a group of 8 PPA board members. Talks included: • John Chinn (Chair of CHAP) "An overview of the Crop Health & Protection (CHAP) Centre for Agricultural Innovation, which forms part of the government's Agri-Tech Strategy" • Jerry Knox "Increasing the resilience to water related risk in the UK fresh fruit and vegetable system" (https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/press/news-2016/increasing-resilience-to-water-related-risks-in-the-uk-fresh-fruit-and-vegetable-system). • Maria Del Carmen "Controlling dormancy and sprouting in potato and onion", a Horticulture and Potato Initiative funded project • Rob Simmons "Controlling runoff in row crops - wheeling disruption trials. Initial findings" • Jane Rickson "Realising the potential of soils for crop health and protection: The Centre for Crop Health and Protection (CHAP) facilities at Cranfield" Feedback from the PPA was that they were impressed with the CHAP facility at Cranfield University and the overall potential of CHAP's that John Chinn had described and could see benefits for the potato industry. There was an enthusiasm to explore how PPA members could make use of the facilities offered through CHAPs and the Agri-EPI centres. 11. August 2017, submitted report from the Horticulture and Potato Initiative, March 8 & 9 breakout event 'Interpretation of the interactive workshop - Identifying strategic priorities of the fresh produce supply chain' Executive Summary Executive Summary of the report: The workshop at the HAPI March 2017 meeting was designed to capture the opinions of the fresh produce supply chain and scientific community regarding challenges and opportunities facing the sector, both in the UK and within Official Development Assistance (ODA) defined countries. Interestingly, the workshop highlighted that the HAPI community currently has a higher engagement with ODA countries in Asia (46%) than Africa (32%) and South America (22%) respectively. Outputs from the HAPI workshop have helped identify future priority research areas for both the UK and overseas, highlighting potential barriers to innovation and the actions to address these. Thirteen common challenge categories were identified for both the UK and ODA countries. The top four challenges identified were: • Crop protection - Availability of pesticides, growing resistance and invasive species • Supply chain issues - Post-harvest logistics, product quality, food safety and waste • Climate - Dealing with extreme weather and better predictions • Sustainability - Reducing inputs, remaining economical and preventing environmental damage While eleven common opportunity categories were highlighted by the HAPI community, the top four being: • Genomics - Advance breading and biotechnology • Technology - Introduction of robotics and automation • Knowledge exchange - More integrated communication and identifiable centres of expertise • Crop - New varieties The HAPI community felt that funding, skills and education, knowledge, data availability and accessibility, and public awareness were barriers to overcoming the identified challenges. Suggestions by the community to address these barriers were for funding frameworks that support collaboration, better alignment of funding duration to reflect system cycles, engagement that encouraged cross community discussions and policy with a longer term perspective. Whilst valuable insight was achieved from the workshop, further consultation is required to widen the representation from the supply chain. To achieve this, we will be host a series of one to one interviews that will capture the opinions of delegates who were unable to attend the day and who represent a broader spectrum of the supply chain. (Wider consultation was undertaken in September and October 2017 and reported in December 2019, Item 19) The workshop formed part of an initial consultation stage in developing the Research Council's future strategy for engagement with the fresh produce community. The responses from this event will be related to BBSRC's strategic framework and NERC's sustainable food strategy to help augment this process. 12. Soft-fruit agronomists day, organised by AHDB, 13th September 2017, NIAB EMR Horticulture KE Fellow was invited to talk about some of her work on integrated pest management in strawberries and raspberries. This was an in-field talk which allowed for informal discussions and offered the opportunity to discuss other work such as the HAPI projects and KE. 13. Smarter Farming for Soils Health and Water Management, 15th September 2017, Cranfield University Agri-Tech East contact, who I met at the March 2017 HAPI meeting, recommended me as a facilitator for this event. As such, I was invited to help facilitate at the breakout session of the UK Innovation Workshop 2, of the Smarter Farming for Soils Health and Water Management. The aim of the breakout was to tease out of the attendees good ideas that could be put forward for funding or that could influence various policies and strategies (UK and European). The group that I hosted considered aspects related to Soil Health. Ca. 100 delegates attended this event, including farmers, land managers, advisors and academics. 14. Invited to attend and present at the British Carrot Variety Trials & Trade Exhibition, 5th October 2017 Based on the previous year's talk around a soil profile on soil health, the British Carrot Growers Association were keen for a similar talk at the 2017 trials event. Feedback from the BCGA members highlighted that they liked the informal nature of the talk, which allowed them to discuss issues that were of concern to them. Both the previous year's event and the 2018 event reinforced the network between academia and industry, which has led to the development of new research ideas that will help strengthen UK horticulture and contribute to UK food security. The event was attended by 140+ delegates, including farmers, seed companies, agrichemical businesses, agricultural equipment suppliers, industry representatives, research institutes and AHDB. 15. 8th November, Farmers Weekly's Soils in Practice 2017 event, Glebe Farm, Lincoln This was an inaugural event for Farmers Weekly, who wanted to host a meeting that would bring academics and farmers together. I was challenged with providing a demonstration/talk covering on-farm methods of measuring and monitoring aspects of soil health. The event was well attended, by 80+ delegates, primarily farmers, land owners and industry representatives but also by AHDB 16. Knowledge Exchange Network (KEN) meeting, Aurora Innovation Centre, BAS, Cambridge, 16th November 2017 The Horticultural KE Fellow was invited by BASF to attend this KEN meeting and also gave an overview of our KE Fellowship to the group. This event provided a good opportunity to discuss our Fellowship with other KE Fellows working in a similar area and both Chantelle and I were able to pass on advice based on our own experience. 17. November 2017, case study 'Controlling dormancy and sprouting in potato and onion' Horticulture KE Fellow worked with one of the HAPI project groups to draft a case study document that could be used at an industry event. The aim was to design a template document that could then be used by other HAPI projects in order to generate publicity for their projects. The InDesign template can be easily changed to create a suite of case studies. The case study provides easily summarised points that can be used by both project holders and funders to describe value and impact. This was specifically to support the grant holders to enable them to attend a key trade event for the horticulture and potato industry, British Potatoes 2017 in Harrogate. This was coordinated with the Knowledge Transfer Network who provided them with stand space to showcase the case study and to talk about their project. This opportunity would not have been taken up if it were not for the involvement of the KE Fellows. 18. AAB Sustainable Intensification, 28-30th November 2017, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts Horticulture KE Fellow gave a presentation, entitled 'I communicate all the time, don't I'. Other presentations on the 28th November had focused on the sustainable intensification of combinable crops. My presentation allowed me to highlight the issues facing the horticulture and potato sectors including barriers to achieving sustainability, opportunities to overcome these barriers and the role that knowledge exchange plays in sustainable intensification. The presentation also allowed me to highlight to the audience the NERC KE Fellowship scheme. Ca. 100 delegates, including academics, charities, supermarket representatives, government and advisory groups. 19. December 2017, submission of the report 'Wider consultation of the fresh produce supply chain' Following on from the HAPI March 2017 breakout session and subsequent report on the responses obtained from that event, a wider consultation of the horticulture and potato fresh produce chain was undertaken. The wider consultation was consider necessary in order to verify the 'on-the-day' responses from the HAPI event and to also include comment from a wider distribution of the horticulture and potato supply chain. One-to-one interviews were held with an additional eight representatives of the wider horticulture and potato supply chain. The interviews were used to capture the representative's opinions on challenges, opportunities and barriers. Having given their own responses, the representatives were then asked to comment on the output from the HAPI March 2017 breakout session. Key take home messages from the report • The top four priorities for the horticulture and potato sectors are: 1. Crop protection 2. Sustainability 3. Labour 4. Soil resources • There is an enthusiasm within the horticulture and potato sectors to contribute to research that will benefit their sectors. • Historically low food prices combined with rising costs means the horticulture and potato sectors have limited surplus cash to invest into research, however, these sectors are keen to be involved through in-kind contributions (time, land and workforce). • The horticulture and potato sectors feel that they need funding models that will attract and maintain expertise in the UK that can support them. • Opportunities are required that will bring horticulture, potato and research sectors together, in order to share ideas and develop appropriate research questions. • Focal centres of expertise need to be maintained through financial support. • The horticulture and potato sectors feel that their sectors are overlooked in generic agricultural research calls because they do not have the scale of representation that the arable sector has. 19. January 2018, Industry thoughts related to HAPI During the wider consultation the industry representatives were also asked: 1. What had prevented them from attending the March 2017 meeting (if relevant)? 2. What would make them attend a HAPI event in the future? The responses from these two questions were summarised in a short document, which was sent out to the Horticulture Innovation Partnership committee, to help inform their design for the March 2018 HAPI event. NUMBER OF NEW PARTNERSHIPS CREATED Our CEH event in March 2017 brought together representatives of the horticulture and potato supply chain and a range of research scientists. Discussions during the soils breakout activity led to a request from the Potato Processors Association (PPA) for Cranfield University to host a meeting that included the Chair of CHAPs, who they met at the CEH event. The subsequent meeting at Cranfield allowed some of my colleagues at Cranfield University to present their research activities and interest to the PPA. A collaboration was formed between (Cranfield University and the PPA that led to the submission of a Research Council proposal, SWAAR (Supporting strategic economic growth through Sustainable Water management for the Agrifood and drink sectors in the Anglian Region) under the NERC Regional Impact from Science of the Environment (RISE) call that was supported by PPA members. The research proposal was well received by BBSRC and has progressed on to the second submission stage. Hosting the PPA at Cranfield University and including the Chair of CHAPs at the event, introduced the PPA not only to the Crop Health and Protection (CHAPs) facilities hosted by Cranfield but also to the wider Agri-Tech Innovation Centre facilities. The PPA board members expressed enthusiasm for the potential that their members could make of the Agri-Tech Innovation Centre facilities. The opportunity arising from this will be industry use and benefits from these facilities. The Broadland Catchment Partnership event, April 2017, led on to a collaborative project between Norfolk Rivers Trust, The Rivers Trust, AHDB, McCain, Anglian Water, CamEO and Water Sensitive Farming, NIAB-CUF and Cranfield University looking at solutions to reduce runoff and erosion from row crops (potatoes). The project established a fully instrumented field trial that investigated the efficacy of three wheeling management solutions. These included the Briggs Tied Ridger, Creyke Aqua Agronomy Wheel Track Roller and Bye Engineering Wonder Wheel. These management options where applied to wheelings on a sandy loam soil across two irrigation types namely Boom and Gun applicators. Treatments were compared against a non-treated control wheeling. The initial findings will be presented at a dissemination event on the 11th of January 2018. 20. March 2018 - HAPI dissemination event The Horticultural KE Fellows provided a summary presentation of the activities and outputs of the Horticulture and Potato Fellowship. Which included reporting on the findings of the wider consultation of the Horticulture and potato industry. Industry, academic and government representative were able to question us in relation to the perceived gaps in innovation and technology for this sector. OTHER OUTCOMES AND MEASURES OF SUCCESS Activity 1: NERC/BBSRC research base: Community Building The Horticultural KE Fellows have continued to make contact with representatives of the horticulture and potato supply chain, expanding our network. We have engaged these representatives in relation to current attitudes to collaborative research programs and future opportunities for collaboration. The Horticultural KE Fellows have identified several opportunities that would enable the dissemination of research outcomes to industry, primarily at regional events. The Horticultural KE Fellows have hosted events for grower groups at Cranfield in order to provide bespoke examples of on-going and potential research collaboration opportunities. These activities have led to at least two subsequent research proposals being submitted that had industry backing. Activity 2: Adding value & benefits to BBSRC/NERC collaborative programs Hosted a CEH/industry event bringing both communities together enabling open dialog about key issues effecting the horticulture and potato sectors, on-going research and collaborative opportunities (see Specific Activities Section). The Horticultural KE Fellows have hosted industry events at Cranfield, such as the PPA and Vegetable Growers Association, which has enabled us to promote the CHAP and Agri-EPI Agri-Tech Innovation Centre facilities. The Horticultural KE Fellows have engaged with a wide cross-section of the horticulture and potato industry. Targeting key representatives to help validate industry responses. The wider consultation has validated the responses in relation to key industry challenges. This information can now be used with added confidence to inform future Research Council strategies. Activity 3: Developing priority research opportunities Evidence gathered from various events/meetings is being used to build a robust evidence base as to what the industry and research community consider to be research priorities. We also have the evidence gathered at the March 2017 HAPI meeting and March 2017 CEH meeting which will be used to inform research priorities for the horticultural and potato industry. This evidence was validated by key representatives of the horticulture and potato industry in a wider consultation exercise. Activity 4: Dissemination, translation & embedding of HAPI outputs In February 2017 I was contacted by Richard Crowhurst, a freelance writer and author, who was working on an article looking at Soil Health and ways to manage it for the 2017 Vegetable Yearbook and Buyers Guide. I was able to provide him with a review of methods and approaches that he incorporated into his article. The presentation I gave at the GREAT soils workshop in November 2016 (see July 2016 to Dec 2016 report) stimulated interest in engineering fields in order to increase land capability. For a number of years now colleagues at Cranfield University have been working with Cobrey Farms to find solutions that would reduce soil erosion from asparagus fields in order to bring land that would otherwise be degraded by asparagus production into sustainable and profitable asparagus production. The solution for John's system was to engineer the landscape so that crop rows were not as steep and any runoff was captured by grass waterways and retention ponds. A representative from AHDB, present at the meeting, thought a case study illustrating the potential of engineered landscapes would be of interest to the wider community. Accordingly I produced an article in collaboration with Cobrey Farms and Cranfield colleagues and submitted it through Martin Wood at GREAT soils, in March 2017. This was published in The Grower in December 2017. One of the challenges and opportunities highlighted by the HAPI, March 2017, breakout session was the availability and use of data, which is being collected in ever increasing amounts. To highlight to the wider horticultural community how Big Data is set to help make better use of our growing data resources, I persuaded colleagues at Cranfield University to allow me to write an article for the AHDB Grower Magazine based on their Big Data project funded by AHDB. The article entitled 'Data rich, information poor - Redressing the balance to deliver best soil management practices' was submitted to the Grower Magazine at the end of May 2017 and was published in The Grower in December 2017. To help the wider knowledge exchange of output from HAPI projects we have been working with one of the HAPI projects to develop a case study document (Controlling dormancy and sprouting in potato and onion). The InDesign template can be easily changed to create a suite of case studies from the HAPI projects. Our Fellowship activities with the HAPI group of projects was also mentioned at the November Knowledge Exchange Network meeting and at the AAB-Sustainable Intensification meeting hosted at Rothamsted in November 2017. Activity 5: Industry challenges & knowledge gaps: Prioritising research opportunities The activity undertaken as part of the March 2017 HAPI breakout session and the interpretation of the output will contribute to our understanding of knowledge gaps and potential research opportunities for the horticultural and potato industry. The breakout activities undertaken at the March 20017 CEH March event will also contribute to our understanding of challenges and potential research opportunities. Wider consultation of the horticulture and potato supply chain has validated the responses from the HAPI breakout session and has strengthened the evidence that supports the identified key challenges for these industries. Mapped the responses from the challenges identified at the HAPI meeting onto the NERC and BBSRC framework. This is helping to inform NERC and BBSRC of their future strategy in the fresh produce sector. Activity 6: Fresh Produce Working Groups At our project partner group meeting on 21st April 2016, complications of accessing a Fresh Produce Working Group, specified for this Fellowship, were again discussed. Because of the similarities in participants of the HIP/HAPI steering group and that required by this Fellowship for our proposed working group, it had been proposed and agreed that our Fellowship should utilise the existing HIP/HAPI steering group members as our working group. However, due to various reasons this has to date not been possible. Following discussion with our project partner group it was agreed that the establishment of a working group was not critical to the Fellowship and that the Gantt chart should be altered to reflect that this would no longer remain an identified activity for this Fellowship. However, every effort will still be made to seek advice from representatives of the edible horticulture and potato industries. Activity 7: Reporting 4th January 2017 conference call with HAPI panel (BBSRC, NERC and HIP), planning for the HAPI March 2017 meeting. 27th February 2017 hosted a WebEx meeting with HAPI organisation panel to discuss Fellows plans for the breakout session for the upcoming HAPI March meeting. We have produced a report based on the outcomes of the HAPI March 2017 breakout session that the KE Fellows organised. Initial reports covering UK and overseas challenges and opportunities were submitted to our Fellowship panel and HAPI co-ordinator group separately. However, following feedback from a WebEx meeting on the 19th May 2017 the reports have been combined and simplified. The second draft was resubmitted on the 21st June 2017 and accepted by the panel. The Horticultural KE Fellows have had regular monthly telephone or WebEx meetings to discuss upcoming events and plans for the future. On 12th September 2017, a meeting of Horticulture KE Fellows and Horticulture Innovation Partnership was held at Cranfield University. The meeting discussed the outcomes of the Manchester HAPI meeting in March and developed plans for further consultation with key representative of the fresh produce supply chain who had been unable to attend the HAPI meeting. In addition, detailed plans for the remainder of the Fellowship were also discussed. On the 26th June 2017, a Fellowship and coordinators meeting was held at Swindon. This meeting provided an opportunity to update on activities since the last coordinators meeting, with a focus on the outputs of the interactive breakout session at the Manchester, March 2017, HAPI meeting. Plans for the remainder of the Fellowship were also discussed along with the issue of the final HAPI meeting falling outside the duration of our Fellowship. I offered as a potential solution, a no-cost extension to the Fellowship. This suggestion was considered and approved. We have subsequently been granted a no-cost extension until the 4th June 2018. This extension will allow us time to contribute to developing the event, participate at the event and have time to report on outputs from the event. December 2017, submission of the report 'Wider consultation of the fresh produce supply chain' - as detailed above. December 2017, submission of draft report on workshop of the Cross Disciplinary Science Exchange Meeting Horticultural Science and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Date: 22 March 2017 January 2018, submission of feedback of industry thoughts related to HAPI meetings, to HIP group to help planning for the March 2018 HAPI meeting IMPACT CASE STUDIES Chantelle continued with our suite of case studies in the final stage of the project. We also have had a request from a HAPI project that has been completed for a 'follow-on impact' story. A case study template for that may be very useful. WHAT WILL BE THE LEGACY OF YOUR KE FELLOWSHIP External Legacy Through our Fellowship we have managed to link-up groups and individuals (e.g. Potato Processors Association with the chair of CHAP and CEH with horticulture and potato industry representatives) who had not previously worked together and this has open up new opportunities and avenues for them to consider. On the research side we have widened the network of people within the horticultural industry who now are aware of industry events. We have achieved this by hosting the CEH meeting and by advising members of the HAPI group. At industry events we have both talked about science but importantly given advice about how industry members can get involved with research and development (e.g. through KTP funding or by providing contact detail with people they can link with). We have helped highlight the CHAP and Agri-EPI Innovation Centres, part of the Government Agi-Tech strategy, to a wide spectrum of the horticultural industry who had previously been unaware of the facilities and how they could benefit from them. For example we have hosted the Vegetable Consultancy Association and Potato Processors Association. We have also talked about these facilities in presentation e.g. at the HLH Vegetable Conference (Item 1) and TESCO Supplier Network meeting (Item 9) Internal Legacy The KE Fellowship has widened networks that will not only benefit myself but that can also be of benefit to my colleagues in Cranfield Soil and Agrifood Institute, Centre for Environmental and Agricultural Informatics and Water Science Institute both for the purposes of research as well as teaching. The training that I received whilst a NERC Fellow and the experiential experience gained by undertaking the Fellowship has already enabled me to give advice about KE events/activities to other colleagues particularly in relation to several AHDB funded projects. It is envisaged that my expertise and input on effective KE mechanisms will translate into greater impact for future research projects. My success in gaining the KE Fellowship also encouraged other colleagues to apply for KE Fellowships. So I see my Fellowship as having promoted the need for KE to other colleagues, across a wider research arena. Personal Legacy The Fellowship has given me a fantastic opportunity to engage with the wider horticulture and potato industry. This has enabled me to pass on valuable information to this industry that is helping them reduce their impact on the environment whilst remaining profitable. It has also provide me with the opportunity to learn so much more about the constraints facing these industry that will help me collaborate with them in the future. The Fellowship has broadened our networks of contacts and opened up opportunities (e.g. being asked to help facilitate at meetings and invitations to give presentations). The training received as part of the Fellowship has been invaluable to me. It has strengthened my confidence and I find myself more willing and able to give advice and to present ideas, than I was before. The other KE Fellow is keen to pursue the KE and communications side of her career as opposed to research. FUTURE KE OPPORTUNITIES KE activities undertaking during this Fellowship have highlighted the need to perpetuate KE activities to help inform better soil and water management. This activity is not only needed to safeguard food production but also to protect the wider environment and enable sustainable intensification whilst also maximising wider ecosystem goods and services that have wider societal benefits. Our KE activities have also highlighted the need for better training for all research scientists in the art of communicating with industry. Potentially focussing specific training events for early career scientists will help to infuse this particular skill into the wider research community. Colleagues at Cranfield are in the process of submitting Innovate UK, BBSRC-GCF and KTP proposals. I will endeavour to provide guidance on effective KE mechanisms based on my experiences during this KE Fellowship. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Education,Environment |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Description | Contribution to taught MSc programme |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Engagement with the horticulture and potato food chain has given me an insight into the challenges that these industries are facing. In turn I have been able to use what I have learnt from my KE activities in my teaching (M Level courses). Specifically, while I can use scientific evidence to demonstrate which management options work well on paper, engagement and discussion with the industry, who are expected to implement changes, has allowed practical considerations to be incorporated into teaching. |
| Description | Leadership Training Bursaries for NERC Fellows |
| Amount | £1,609 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2017 |
| End | 01/2017 |
| Description | 50 Young careers, 9th May 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | An event linking the 50th anniversary of Milton Keynes and Cranfield School of Management was hosted at Cranfield University (see http://www.cranfieldsom50.com/50-young-careers.html). The event focused on engaging local school children and inspiring their career aspirations. One of the issues that was repeatedly mentioned throughout the horticultural and potato supply chain are concerns related to young people not seeing the food producing industry as a potential career pathway. The focus of my presentation at the 50 Young Careers event was sustainable food production. I used the event to highlight the limited land resource that is globally available for food production and the pressures that that this land is under from competing demands due to population growth. I also focused on soil as a finite resource. The event enabled engagement with children (Ca. 14 years old) who were at the point of making key decisions about which exams to take. The event therefore offered an opportunity to talk about scientific carrier opportunities linked with the sustainable development of the horticultural and potato supply chain and hopefully inspire some of the participants to think about this as a potential career option. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | AHDB Onion article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Under our KE Fellowship role I assisted one of our HAPI projects to produce an industry article that was sent out via an AHDB newsletter. One of the aims of our Fellowship is to promote wider dissemination of horticultural related Research Council funded projects to a wider industry audience. The article, was entitled 'Controlling dormancy and sprouting in onions'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Appetite for Growth, South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (Colworth) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | An event that enabled me to discuss opportunities for industry and scientists to work more effectively together. Some of the smaller businesses where unaware that it may be possible for them to identify someone within a university or research institute to collaborate with. They were also unaware of potential grants that they may be eligible for with respect to developing their own ideas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | BASF Farm trial event, Ilminster, 22nd June |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give an in-field talk on 'Best practise with tyres to protect soil'. The event was set-up so that different groups of between 5 to 20 visited throughout the day. I built the discussion around the impact of soil compaction on infiltration, water retention and productivity. But there was also time to open up the discussion to explore how useful the participants found this type of activity in relation to trying out new ideas. At times I also discussed issues that the audience had when it came to knowledge exchange. The main impact of the day was: 1) Several of the audience agreed to dig inspection holes in there field to check whether they had compaction or not before subsoiling and to also use inspection holes to check on the effectiveness of subsoiling. If they do this then soil health will be improved. 2) Others agreed to consider using cover crops as bioengineering alternatives to removing soil compaction. Again if implemented this could also improve soil health and may also increase carbon storage. 3) A clear take home message for me was that the audience liked and trusted more what they saw at field demonstration days and were more likely to give something a try that they had seen demonstrated in the field. 4) The language we use is very important and even the most unpretentious of phrases such as 'critical depth' can have a completely different meaning to different groups of people. The event and my participation also got a mention in BASF's internal publication. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | BP2015 (Harrogate International Centre) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Attended this event to get a feel for the innovation that was being promoted to the potato industry and to make new contacts within the industry. I will be following up some of these contacts in the coming year. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Barfoots of Botley: Asparagus Exchange of Knowledge, Romsey, 5th July |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The activity was to demonstrate and provide evidence for ways of preventing runoff and erosion from asparagus plots. This involved both and outdoor demonstration and a more formal presentation (made by my colleague) in the afternoon. The primary audience were asparagus growers from Bavaria. However, the event was hosted by a UK asparagus grower and other participants were from UK asparagus associations and industry. The demonstration and following presentation generated a lot of questions and the European audience seemed impressed at the research that had been undertaken on asparagus in the UK. There was particular interest from them in the use of mulches to protect the soil from erosion. The event enabled an insight into the perception of knowledge exchange in another European country. It also confirmed how useful field demonstrations can be in engaging an audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Blog page |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | To help aid dissemination of knowledge to the horticulture and potato food chain we have established a blog page, hosted at http://blogs.cranfield.ac.uk/horticultureandpotatoke. It is hoped that we can use this pathway to talk about issues and solutions relevant to the horticultural and potato food chain that centres of research such as East Malling and Cranfield University can provide advice for. Whilst we potentially have access to a lot of material from the HAPI community it may, because of commercial confidentially, not always be possible to get permission to post certain blogs. We have already encountered issues of getting permission with one of the blogs for this reason. However, in these cases we will seek to explore the reasons behind this and potential ways forward. The blog page is hosted on the Cranfield University's site. So far we have released two blog pieces: Who cares about horticulture and potato production? (https://blogs.cranfield.ac.uk/agrifood/cares-horticulture-potato-production) and Making an impression (https://blogs.cranfield.ac.uk/agrifood/horticulture/soil-awareness-making-impression). A third blog is just waiting approval to release it. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://blogs.cranfield.ac.uk/horticultureandpotatoke |
| Description | British Carrot Demo Day and trade exhibition, West Knapton, North Yorkshire, 6th October |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | As a result of providing a demonstration and discussion at the British Herb Event I was invited to provide a demonstration that would engage carrot growers in a discussion about soil health. The event was well attended by growers and equipment specialists. Also present were representatives from AHDB, Environment Agency and scientist involved with trials on the field site. There was no formal timetable for group discussions, people were allowed to wonder the site and stop off as and where they liked. Some times you would be talking to one or two people and at other times there would be a group of up to ten people. With just a soil pit and simple penetrometers that people were encouraged to try, it was possible to engage people in a wide variety of conversation about soil health ranging from soil structure and its influence on drainage and water retention, soil organic matter content, disease control and weed control. It was also possible to link the discussions about soil health to product quantity and quality and to tie it in with some of the variety trials they had seen on the site. With some of the visitors it was also possible to talk about their involvement with trials and the factors that were most likely to contribute to them trying something new. Trust related to proof of concept was high on most peoples responses. An interesting observation about this event was that people seemed more willing to stop and chat at the side of a soil pit than they were at a poster/banner. Having met Martin Wood at the Herb Event, Martin was trying to engage the industry in knowledge exchange (KE) under the AHDB Great Soils project, we had already agreed to help each other out at this event. Martin found that people at this event did not seem to stop at his stand in the marquee but when he came out and stood by the soil pit and could discuss his KE tools as part of the general conversation he was more successful in getting people to sign up to his programme. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | British Herb Trade Association (BHTA) Field Event, Frilford, 25th August |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited with a colleague to give a field talk entitled Soil in Horticulture. Discussed soil health and the use of cover crops and mulches in order to prevent erosion and to maintain crop quality. A big issue for herb produces is soil splash onto the product, which reduces the value of the product. We used an in-field demonstration to show how mulches and therefore cover crops could be used to reduce splash erosion. This would have value from a soil health perspective and also prevent wastage and loss of product value. This even also offered an opportunity to engage the audience in conversation about preferences for knowledge exchange. The majority of the audience agreed that they got greatest confidence out of seeing something demonstrated in a field trial. They were keen to hear from scientists and got most benefit from when the science could be demonstrated to them and where they could ask questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Carrot Expert Group Meeting, Thetford, 24th November |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Attend this meeting with a colleague, Professor Jane Rickson, who gave a talk to the group about soil health as related to carrot production. This international group of carrot agronomists meet regularly to discuss emerging technology and science. The group like to invite appropriate people who can give a presentation on specific areas of interest. While I gave no formal presentation, it was possible during breaks and during the field visit to discuss knowledge exchange activities and the groups enthusiasm for engaging with scientist/research groups. From our Fellowship perspective this type of meeting represents a potential opportunity for scientists to tap into and an obvious knowledge exchange opportunity. The HAPI community at the 2016 event identified a need for Location specific grower showcase events for scientists, but these may already exist as this Carrot Expert Group meeting and other reported events highlight. The missing like at the moment is connecting these meetings with the scientific community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Cross disciplinary science exchange meeting, 22nd March 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This event was organised in order to highlight key areas of CEH (NERC) research and explore how areas of expertise could be transferred into applied research science in the horticulture and potato sector. A series of interactive breakout sessions were used to focus discussion around key areas including soils; insect interactions, ecology & control; interactions between agriculture and biodiversity; and water resources, ozone and air quality. Participants in each workshop were asked to identify challenges and knowledge gaps in the UK fresh produce supply chain (horticulture/potatoes) and ornamentals that could be addressed by collaborative research. They were also asked to identify opportunities that could be used to solve some of these challenges. Where time permitted groups went on to produce challenge maps showing challenges, gaps/barriers that currently exist (and make suggestions as to how these may be overcome), and actions or help needed to support the collaboration to achieve different aspects within the challenge map. Key points taken from the meeting included: • The need to work more on the water use efficiency of horticultural crops, at landscape scale, improved forecasting of water availability for irrigation strategy • For ozone, increasing awareness of damage of ozone in horticultural crops • Irrigation verses the yield trade-off (quantity and quality) • Need for long term projects to generate valuable data and yield effects; • Reduce fragmentation of the UK horticulture space allowing better sharing of data were possible • Investment in new ideas are only encouraged if we can demonstrate economic return so better economic valuation is needed • Crop Map to include horticultural crops • Decisions to be taken holistically • Soil biodiversity and its link with the yield and yield quality • Social economics and links with precision technology • Passport for soils needed especially for rented land to help encourage maintenance of soil health • Quantifying the health of the soil, bring in previous studies into a toolbox so that the data can be quantified and then communicated • Mapping biological, physical and chemical interactions of soil • Better understanding of above and below ground interactions Impact of this event: Introduced the Potato Processors Association (PPA) to Crop Health and Protection (CHAP; an Innovation Agri-tech Centre). A follow-up meeting, for the PPA and CHAP, was arranged at Cranfield University. This meeting lead to PPA members collaborating with a colleague and the joint submission of a project proposal for a NERC Regional Impact from Science of the Environment, I believe this proposal has reached a second round. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Farmers Weekly Soils in Practice event, 8th November 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This was an inaugural event for Farmers Weekly, who wanted to host a meeting that would bring academics and farmers together. I was challenged with providing a demonstration/talk covering on-farm methods of measuring and monitoring aspects of soil health. The event was well attended, by 80+ delegates, primarily farmers, land owners and industry representatives but also by AHDB. It provide a good venue for informal discussion and advice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Food Matters Live, Excell, London, 23rd November |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I attended this event as an opportunity to engage with the wider horticultural food chain, as well as to gauge how well this type of event would work for knowledge exchange. The event not only hosted trade stands but had breakout workshops and discussion zones, a science zone where visitors could engage with scientist about research and professional development. The event was well attended on the day that I went (whole event hosted over three days). Workshops and discussion groups were all well attended and stimulated a lot of discussion. The event seemed to work well for networking and knowledge exchange across a wide aspect of the food chain system. This was the four year of this event and talking with people on stands the impression was that the enthusiasm for it is still growing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.foodmatterslive.com |
| Description | Fruit Focus(East Mallings) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The intention was to meet new contacts within the horticulture section. The event brought together a number of operators within the food chain system associated with fruit production. The event made it possible to speak to a range of industry representatives and to gather information with regard to their attitudes to engaging with scientists. It was also possible to advertise our questionnaire that was running at the time and this resulted in an increase in the number of people who filled out the questionnaire around that time. The event also made it possible to meet with representatives of the industry press and discuss future ideas with them. Not only to get highlights from this Fellowship publicised but to also better understand what advice we needed to give others, in particular scientists, in order for them to publish more prolifically in industrial magazines. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | G's Onion Growers Field Day, Sulfolk, 12 August |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | invited to give an infield talk to approximately 40 farmers on soil health and in particular capping and soil erosion issues in onions. Although this also extended into water management and cover crops as well. The talk stimulated a good range of questions. However, the most important take home message from this day, for me, was the issue of people trying something once and if it failed being reluctant to try it again. This has implications for the transfer of scientific information. While people probably do not like to hear or choose to ignore when we say that 'the research was limited' and therefore the benefits of using it in other circumstances may be lower. Sometimes people get swept along by a trend without fully understanding why they are doing something or what the limitations of the method are. In part this can be mitigated by full scale field demonstrations, which help to demonstrate that something is 'fit for purpose' in the real world. But the importance of highlighting the limitations of our knowledge is very important if we are not to put off the less adventurous participants. We need to explore new ways of improving the confidence we have and can therefore give to the end user. This may well involve using citizon science in the future to beta test an idea over a wider variety of circumstances before wider release. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | GREAT soils workshop: Soil Health and Farm Viability, Lichfield, 22nd November |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Following on from previous meetings with Martin Wood, Martin invited me to give a presentation on 'Keeping soil in the field - managing runoff and erosion in row crops' at one of the GREATsoil project events. This project is funded by AHDB Horticulture to inspire and support growers to assess and manage the health of their soils. On this occasion there was only a small, but quite influential group who attended. The main interest of the group was asparagus. Because it was a small group it enabled useful extended dialog about issues. Interest was expressed on the day of trying some of the approaches that they had heard about. Also a spin-off from the event was a request to assist with a case study that will go out through AHDB and therefore will be seen by their wider horticultural community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/greatsoils-workshop-soil-health-and-farm-viability-staffordshire-regi... |
| Description | Garden Press event (London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Used this event to publicise the release of the HIP Ornamental and Landscape Horticulture strategy document. The stand enabled us to engage with a variety of people and to not only discuss the HIP Ornamental strategy document but also enabled us to discuss the wider Fellowship and to get peoples opinions as to their perspective of the value of scientific research to them. We also used this event to highlight opportunities for businesses to engage with science and potential grants they may benefit from in so doing. A lot of the smaller businesses said they had never considered enquiring in to what their local university may be able to do to benefit them. Most said they would look into it but it is as yet uncertain as to whether they will or not. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | HDC News, press release |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Article promoting the Horticultural Knowledge Exchange Fellowship and our role within the Horticulture Innovation Partnership. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | HIP News letter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Horticulture Innovation Partnership (HIP), who are co-sponsors of our Fellowship, put out periodic news letters to their group. These news letters update the group on any relevant activity. October 2016 News Letter In the October news release we provided a brief summary of the results of our survey that I had undertaken with industry and science representatives from the horticulture and potato sector. The article gave a link to the full report document hosted on the HIP web page (see http://www.hip.org.uk/hip-activity/current/thank-you-for-giving-20-minutes-of-your-time-to-benefit-your-industry). We also contributed a second article based around the 'Making an Impression' blog, which gave the link to our blog page where this blog is hosted. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | HLH Vegetable Conference, Lincolnshire, 21st February |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give a talk about 'Soil Management in Vegetable Production'. However, also mentioned as part of the presentation opportunities of how to get more involved with science in order that the type of research is not only relevant to them but also that the information is fed back to their community. Most of the audience were agronomists or advisers who had responsibility for a number of farms in an area. They were therefore able to feedback information to a much wider audience than was present on the day. They could also raise issues/concerns on behalf of the farmers that they advised. The horticultural industry have a conference season that runs from about October until March. During this time there are a number of events at which research is discussed and there is potential for a much wider section of the scientific community to tap into these events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Horticulture and Potato Initiative (HAPI) - Dissemination Events, 1-2 March 2016 and 8-9 March 2017, 13-14 March 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | HAPI March 2016 event Three activities were facilitated by our Fellowship during this HAPI 2016 dissemination event: 1) Icebreaker session. Approximately 60 participants. We were tasked with organising an evening event that would help bring the different groups (industry and science mix) together and that would help individuals to get to know each other better. Using a Tic-Tac-Toe-Scavenger-Hunt participants were given nine questions. Each question involved finding someone in the room who met the description e.g. Find a PhD student who does not work on your HAPI project. The questions involved a mix of work related (as previous example) and more personal e.g. find someone who enjoys a similar hobby to you. Once found they were asked to note down their name and an answer. This exercise has a number of values a) participants are gently encouraged to meet a range of new people, in a fun way, and have a list of names and a known fact about that person to take away. So if they meet that person in the future they have a connection; b) as well as helping the participants get to know each other their behaviour can also be observed e.g. do they work as individuals to complete the task or do they collaborate (no rules are set on this). Often the 'winner' (the person to complete the nine questions first) works as an individual and personal success is important to them. Team players usually do not 'win' but do ensure that the majority achieve success. The activity was very well received, with many positive comments the next day and was still being talked about positively at the following years meeting. Participants who were in the process of building their own personal networks found this activity particularly beneficial. 2) Breakout session - Communication in the horticulture community. Approximately 20 participants. This breakout explored the methods of communication used and preferences. It also asked the participants to consider what forms of communication they felt were needed in order for the HAPI community to build and maintain their community in the future. The outcomes suggested that the funded dissemination meetings worked well and encouraged networking. Location of these events was important given the dispersed nature of the community. They were prepared to travel but it was helpful to have a location with good car parking/public transport links. Networking opportunities, both informal and more structured science and technical session, were felt to be beneficial and important to them. Early career scientist would like to see more events focused at them where they can begin to build their own networks. They would also like better guidance on funding opportunities that are available to them and linked to this more fellowships to help with their training and development. From the feedback received from this breakout session two future events are being planned: a) A cross disciplinary science exchange meeting, being hosted at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology; b) A early career scientist event. C) Breakout session - Resources for horticulture innovation. Approximately 20 participants. The purpose of this breakout session was to share information regarding data, tools, resources and materials available within the HAPI community, and to link members who could mutually benefit each other. During the session the participants were also asked to consider priories for the future by considering what would be needed to address on or more of the six identified industry challenges (changing seasons, crop maturity and spoilage, soil, pests and pathogens, seed quality and vigour, and resource use efficiency). The data gathered during this session was collated into documents that were sent out to the wider HAPI community via Google Drive. Key documents sent out included tables of Community Needs and Community Resources that listed the need or resource, who was looking for or who had, person who could provide or person who was interested in, and the challenges it most related to. The community was encouraged to add to these document, which remain available to them, but only a few (approximately 4) participants added to these tables after the event. The future requirements were sent out via Google Drive as figures, where participants had been asked to position the requirement according to its difficulty in being able to acquire and impact. This information remains available to the wider HAPI community. There is no hard evidence that any direct benefit has come of this exercise, however, individuals were overheard making arrangements on the day to discuss things further. The information gathered here will also be used to draft a future recommendation document and may also form part of a blog. HAPI March 2017 Event Tasked with organising a breakout session on the second day that would engage the mix of industry and science representatives. The activity was used to identifying strategic priorities of the fresh produce supply chain. The participants were asked to consider challenges and opportunities in the UK and overseas (developing countries), they were also asked to identify any previous or current collaborative experience with overseas countries. The final part of the exercise used a Fuzzy Cognitive mapping exercise for groups to identify how challenges may be addressed and the potential for innovative science and technology to overcome any identified gaps and barriers. At the event and just after there were very positive comments made about the success of this breakout. It was reported that it engaged everyone and that there was an energy in the room when they were discussing things. The only slight negative was that it was at the end of a busy two day event and people began to tier and/or had to get away so we did curtail the activity by 15 min (out of 2 hour activity). However, I believe that this was the best thing to do so as to leave a good impression. Sufficient information had been collected by this point anyhow. The results of this breakout session will be written up in a report. The report will be sent out to the HAPI community. HAPI 2018 Event Gave a presentation covering the Horticulture Knowledge Exchange Fellowships: Impact and Value. Also provided feedback on the 'Consultation of the HAPI community & fresh produce supply chain' as a brief report in the HAPI handbook for the event. This covered the outcomes of the wider consultation, based on one-to-one interviews of key representative of the horticulture and potato community. The focus of the consultation to obtain the industries perspective on challenges and opportunities facing the fresh produce supply chain both in the UK and in Official Development Assistance defined countries. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018 |
| Description | Hosted Potato Processors' Association meeting at Cranfield, 24th August 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | In response to a request by the PPA at the CEH meeting that we hosted in March 2017, I organised a programme of talks and a tour of the Crop Heath & Protection (CHAP) facility hosted by Cranfield for a group of 8 PPA board members. Talks included: • John Chinn (Chair of CHAP) "An overview of the Crop Health & Protection (CHAP) Centre for Agricultural Innovation, which forms part of the government's Agri-Tech Strategy" • Jerry Knox "Increasing the resilience to water related risk in the UK fresh fruit and vegetable system" (https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/press/news-2016/increasing-resilience-to-water-related-risks-in-the-uk-fresh-fruit-and-vegetable-system). • Maria Del Carmen "Controlling dormancy and sprouting in potato and onion", a Horticulture and Potato Initiative funded project • Rob Simmons "Controlling runoff in row crops - wheeling disruption trials. Initial findings" • Jane Rickson "Realising the potential of soils for crop health and protection: The Centre for Crop Health and Protection (CHAP) facilities at Cranfield" Feedback from the PPA was that they were impressed with the CHAP facility at Cranfield University and the overall potential of CHAP's that John Chinn had described and could see benefits for the potato industry. There was an enthusiasm to explore how PPA members could make use of the facilities offered through CHAPs and the Agri-EPI centres. Further collaboration came from this meeting in the form of a joint application, between Cranfield colleagues and PPA members, to the NERC Regional Impact from Science of the Environment |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Meeting with the potato group at NIAB Cambridge, 5 May 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This meeting was arranged specifically to discuss KE and communication and how our Fellowship could help support this. There may be opportunities for us to engage with them or support their activities, which currently include using the Cambridge University Potato Growers Research Association (CUPGRA) as a main dissemination route, regular meetings and a yearly conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | PW potato growers day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The intention was to engage different sectors of the food chain and get their opinion as to how they felt science had worked for them and what they felt they needed from science in the future. Also I wanted to get a better idea of the main drivers that influenced their decision making. The event brought together growers, packers and sales personnel. I was able to highlight the on-line questionnaire and although I do not believe many of the people I talked to filled it in I did managed to get their opinions on the day. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Present a the British Carrot Variety Trials and Trade Exhibition, 5th October 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Based on the previous year's talk around a soil profile on soil health, the British Carrot Growers Association were keen for a similar talk at the 2017 trials event. Feedback from the BCGA members highlighted that they liked the informal nature of the talk, which allowed them to discuss issues that were of concern to them. Both the previous year's event and the 2018 event reinforced the network between academia and industry, which has led to the development of new research ideas that will help strengthen UK horticulture and contribute to UK food security. The event was attended by 140+ delegates, including farmers, seed companies, agrichemical businesses, agricultural equipment suppliers, industry representatives, research institutes and AHDB. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Smarter Farming for Soils Health and Water Management, 15th September 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Belinda Clarke of Agri-Tech East, who I met at the March 2017 HAPI meeting, recommended me as a facilitator for this event. As such, I was invited to help facilitate at the breakout session of the UK Innovation Workshop 2, of the Smarter Farming for Soils Health and Water Management. The aim of the breakout was to tease out of the attendees good ideas that could be put forward for funding or that could influence various policies and strategies (UK and European). The group that I hosted considered aspects related to Soil Health. The main impact was that the KE Fellowship had given me wider recognition for facilitating this type of event. The even also gave the Fellowship access to a wider network of industry representatives, with informal discussions during the event helping to inform Fellowship activities, which will benefit the industry. Ca. 100 delegates attended this event, including farmers, land managers, advisors and academics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Soft-fruit agronomists day, 13th Sept |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Chantelle Jay gave a talk followed by discussion with fruit industry representatives on integrated pest management in strawberries and raspberries. This was an in-field talk which allowed for informal discussions and offered the opportunity to discuss other work such as the HAPI projects and KE. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Soil awareness workshop, North Cannon, 24th March |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The purpose of the event was to offer additional training to farmers/land owners who had breached pollution regulations. It represented a new approach to regulatory activities carried out by the Environment Agency (EA). The course was offered by the EA as an alternative to a fine. This was a pilot course to assess how successful this approach would be. The link with the Fellowship was knowledge exchange that would benefit the horticultural or potato sector. A high proportion of the participants attending the course had been growing potatoes at the time when they caused a pollution breach. While most of the participants were well educated in that they understood the risks of soil erosion, I was able to offer a range of alternative solutions that they could consider. Also, importantly, it allowed participants an opportunity to ask questions so that they had a deeper understanding and were better able to identify solutions that were most applicable to them. Their biggest challenge being able to improve soil management on a parcel of land that was often rented and therefore only used by them over a short period of time. Being able to bring science into this classroom improved the participants understanding of the risks and potential solutions they could use in the future. The feedback from the first course was positive and there was an expectation that other course would be hosted in the future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.gov.uk/government/news/environment-agency-launches-soil-speed-awareness-courses-for-land... |
| Description | Soil management best practice workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to give a talk on 'Achieving soil health through collaboration' and also to lead a field demonstration on soil health. The intention of this meeting was to encourage discussion between growers and producers, supermarkets and other parties with a wider environmental concern (Broads Authority). The discussions were aimed at improving understanding between the groups about the pressures of production, issues of soil degradation (specifically compaction and erosion), and the practicalities of prescribed management solutions. The goal was to find practical and economic production solutions to soil degradation and to make different actors and stakeholders in the region more aware of each other's roles and aspirations. Ca. 30 delegates, including growers, processors, Tesco's and Broads Authority. The event created good discussion, with participants expressing that they had learnt something new and may implement some of the things that they learnt about. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Spot East Farm Walk, 6th July 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This was predominantly a field trial event for the potato industry. I attended this event as an opportunity to discuss relevant issues pertaining to the KE Fellowship e.g. to gather the industry representatives opinions on challenges and opportunities for collaborative research and to help in the translation of relevant research to this sector. The later was achieved via a field demonstration run by Cranfield colleagues relating to reducing soil erosion from crop rows. I was able to discuss a range of topics with a number of the participants. There was interest in the research area and some expressed that they would consider giving some of the approaches a go. Ca. 100 delegates, from potato producers, processors, seed companies, advisory groups and academia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Unlocking innovation through science and collaboration, networking event (London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Networking event enabling an opportunity to discuss knowledge exchange mechanisms with early career scientists. The event also generated new contacts with organisations and individuals within the horticultural and potato sector that will be utilised during the Fellowship. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Vegetable Consultancy Association Conference, Stilton, 29th November |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited with a colleague, Dr Rob Simmons, to give a presentation on 'Challenges of sustainable soil management'. Also discussed with individuals, during the breaks, opportunities for them to contribute to science that would have benefit to their industry. The group were also invited to come across to Cranfield in order to show them the Centre For Applied Crop Science facility that is hosted there. This meeting again demonstrates the existence of sector specific meetings at which industry and science can interact. It also supports the idea that the horticultural industry is keen to acquire and discuss, outputs and opportunities from research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Vegetable Consultancy Association, visit to Cranfield University, 1st March |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Members of the Vegetable Consultancy Association (VCA) were invited to Cranfield to show them the Centre for Applied Crop Science (ACS; soil health facility) and The Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre (Agri-EPI) assets held at Cranfield. These centres were funded under the Agri-Tech strategy and represents a collaboration between academia and industry. They are facilities built specifically with industry academic collaboration in mind. The VCA were given presentations on the type of scientific work undertaken at Cranfield that has direct significance to the agricultural and horticultural industries. The group were then given a guided tour of the ACS and Agri-EPI facilities hosted at Cranfield. Following the tour the group were asked to comment on the facilities and were encouraged to discuss potential projects that they saw the facilities being able to address form their perspective. Actions from this meeting included keeping the VCA advised of potential funding opportunities they could benefit from with respect to undertaking research that is relevant to them. Ideas presented on the day will be considered and, where appropriate, worked up into proposals in collaboration with the VCA. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Water sensitive farming and catchment sensitive farming, industry event, 20th April 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to this event by Neil Punchard (Broads-authority) to give a presentation and lead a field demonstration on water efficiency trials using the Wheel Track Roller and aqueel in potatoes. The potato industry faces challenges related to excess water causing erosion and a growing demand for irrigation. This event represented an important bridge in the knowledge gap in relation to water availability and demand. To minimise disease in potato crops, potatoes are often grown in a field 1 in 6 years or even less frequently. Because of this, the majority of potatoes are grown on rented land that is unfamiliar to the farmer and to which the farmer has a limited amount of time under which they have control of soil management and usually have no control over the soil management preceding their rental period. One of their greatest risks is therefore soil erosion due to poor soil health in the field and limited time to embed a risk control solution. Recently work has been undertaken by Cranfield colleagues and myself that are developing potential engineering solutions that can be used to help control runoff and may also result in increased soil water storage within the field. As potatoes rely on irrigation for product quality as well as final yield the proposed methods may help safeguard potato quality event if irrigation becomes limited. The presentation focused on presenting the experimental trails to potato growers and supermarket representatives and the field demonstration enabled more time for an exchange of ideas with the audience. The audience expressed an interest in giving some of the ideas a go. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |