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"Understanding the function of the mutation in Golden Promise and its interactions with other genes means that favourable traits can be bred into our current varieties of barley" Scientists from the International Barley Hub working in collaboration with brewing industry partners have unravelled the genetic secrets of Golden Promise, a popular malting barley variety in the 1970s and 1980s, in a drive to develop future varieties suited to the needs of growers and distillers. Golden Promise’s combined short height, high yields and early maturity, together with its characteristic growth, made it

“This discovery reveals a novel strategy that can be used by a pathogen to suppress the plants immune system, highlighting a vulnerability in our crops that could potentially be protected in the future.” Scientists at the James Hutton Institute, in collaboration with the Division of Plant Sciences at the University of Dundee and the Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University of China, have discovered that the pathogen responsible for the devastating crop disease potato late blight manipulates the plants’ growth and development to boost its infection process. Related content Cell and Molecular

"Each use of the service to analyse a crop sample is worth savings of approximately £14 in labour and equipment for farmers" As one of the world's most important food crops, potatoes are grown for many different markets. It is fundamental for farmers to know when to halt crop growth to achieve optimal tuber size for market and so maximize profits. Until now, standard practice has been to grade a sample of tubers through multiple sieves, counting the number within size ranges, which is time consuming and expensive. Related content Matt Aitkenhead More information from: Bernardo Rodriguez

Cryptosporidium is one of the most important infectious scour causes in young calves and can be very difficult to get rid of. Scientists at the Moredun Research Institute and the University of Glasgow are conducting research on biosecurity and management practices that might help prevent the spread Cryptosporidium. If you are a farmer with a dairy or beef suckler herd in the Dumfriesshire area of Scotland and have had a history of Cryptosporidium on your farm, we would love for you to get in touch with us.

“Armed with this information, breeders and scientists will be much better placed to deal with the challenge of effectively addressing the food security agenda under the constraints of a rapidly changing environment." An international scientific consortium has reported the first high-quality genome sequence of barley, a development which will assist crop breeders in developing more resilient barley varieties suited to the requirements of the brewing, distilling, food and feed industries. Related content Cell and Molecular Sciences Robbie Waugh More information from: Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo

"With more than 9,000 delegates from across the world in attendance, the AAG conference is an interdisciplinary forum open to anyone with an interest in geography and related disciplines" Research by a PhD student jointly funded by the James Hutton Institute and the University of Aberdeen has won the Student Paper Competition at the American Association of Geographers (AAG) conference held in Boston, USA, earlier this month. Andrew Maclaren’s doctoral research paper on ‘More-than-Representational Knowledges of Rural Ageing’, presented at the conference session ‘New Voices in Rural Geography’

“Given the international nature of the problems that rural areas face, the SIMRA team works closely with those initiating and benefiting from social innovations to learn about motivations, experiences and barriers encountered” A Hutton-led research project studying social challenges faced by rural areas across Europe and the wider Mediterranean area was presented at the fifth CRISES (Centre de recherche sur les innovations sociales) international conference, held in Montreal, Canada. The event was attended by over 320 delegates including scientists, students, community-based practitioners

“Barley is an excellent crop model to understand complex mechanisms like recombination and to develop new protocols and techniques that can be easily transferred to wheat and other cereals.” Related content Cell and Molecular Sciences Robbie Waugh Isabelle Colas More information from: Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo, Media Manager, Tel: +44 (0)1224 395089 (direct line), +44 (0)344 928 5428 (switchboard) or +44 (0)7791 193918 (mobile). read more

“In some cases we can reduce applications of existing pesticides by precision monitoring or complementing with biocontrol. In other cases we’ll need to substitute old for new, for example biopesticides that are compatible with biocontrol and other IPM tools” According to recent media reports the European Commission seems poised to ban some of Europe’s most widely used pesticides to protect bees and other pollinators, but is the move likely to have an impact on food production and security? Scientists at the James Hutton Institute have demonstrated that many farmers can reduce agrochemical