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Reform of Scottish Agricultural policies imply environmental objectives are incorporated within traditional goals of food security and farm income viability. However, setting realistic but ambitious targets across economic, environmental, and biophysical dimensions remains a major challenge for policymakers. We present work using four years of the Farm Business Survey data showing the use of estimation approaches to identify best practices across income, environmental and food security domains. This covers a range of methods, from estimation-based approaches to novel applications of machine
C4 WP4 research provides robust evidence to accelerate Scotland’s transition from single-use to reusable packaging. A national study on returnable packaging identified adoption-ready consumer segments, key behavioural barriers, and the packaging attributes that shape decisions. Complementary experiments on single-use cups demonstrated that a 25–30p charge can halve disposable use. Together, these findings specify charge thresholds, deposit structures, and targeting strategies. The pathway to impact lies in enabling policymakers to design effective reuse regulations, giving industry
This research project focusses on understanding the social and behavioural aspects of transition to a circular economy in Scotland. The project aims to better understand the dynamics of behaviour change over time from the perspective of individuals, households and organisations. A lack of data on uptake of household circular economy behaviours and an absence of available validated instruments to measure uptake across relevant behaviours led to the development of the Circular Behaviours Scale, drawing on knowledge of best practice in psychometric methods. This scale has been used in a national
An advanced toolkit of statistical methods enables quantification of hidden spread of pests and diseases in Scotland making best use of limited data. It estimates costly-to-measure characteristics and produces risk assessments to target control efforts. Insights support non-academic partners, including advice to Scottish Forestry on great spruce bark beetle spread related to changes to the West of Scotland Pest Free Area. Through EPIC, findings are informing Scottish Government policy colleagues on threats from African swine fever to livestock and the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak
Virus infection in seed potato crops has surged across Europe over the last five years, threatening Scotland’s global reputation for producing high-quality seed. A multi-pronged approach was developed: mapping changing aphid and virus populations and their traits, using AI to create national early warning systems for forecasting risk, and field-testing integrated pest management (IPM) strategies—combining monitoring with companion crops and pesticide alternatives. This real-world approach guides best practice, helping growers time interventions and improve crop protection. This research
Growing crop mixtures can increase yields, reduce input costs and support biodiversity. We have identified species/variety combinations, management conditions, and machinery adaptations that optimise these benefits from crop mixtures. This work has direct impact on farming practice and uptake by Scottish farmers through >50 collaborative trials to grow mixtures on farms across Scotland. By working with farmers to design and monitor trials, we are quantifying mixture performance relative to monocrops and demonstrating the technical feasibility of mixture cropping. Trial results and technical
SEFARI Gateway and NatureScot are seeking an individual researcher, or small team of researchers, to explore how Scotland’s Agriculture and Knowledge Information System can better support a just transition to sustainable and regenerative agriculture, so that Scotland can achieve its vision of becoming a world leader in this area. We are providing support for a new Fellowship in collaboration with NatureScot. Background Scottish Government’s vision for agriculture includes an ambition for Scotland ‘to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.’ The ‘adoption and use of
Thomas (Tom) is an ecologist specialising in the study of carbon cycling in upland and far northern ecosytems. Much of this research centres on roots and the 'rhizosphere'- the volume of soil directly influenced by root activity- and how root and rhizosphere processes control the capacity of an ecosystem to store carbon. Tom's expertise is in understanding ecological processes, how they connect within an ecosystem and how they are influenced by climate and vegetation change. Tom works in the Biodiversity and Ecosystems Group with a focus on the ecosystem responses to land management and green
An exciting opportunity for an individual researcher, or small team of researchers, is available in the form of a new Fellowship. With funding from SEFARI Gateway , and working in collaboration with Scottish Government , Scottish Environment Protection Agency and others within the Co-ordinated Agenda for Marine, Environment and Rural Affairs Science, this Fellowship will produce a strategic route map to enable use of DNA and other biomolecules to monitor, assess and understand the environment. Background SEFARI (Scottish Environment Food & Agriculture Institutions) Gateway (“the Gateway”) is
Digital or data-driven farming has the potential to transform agriculture, helping it become more sustainable. By combining real-time data from sensors, satellites, and molecular tools with advances in computing and scientific knowledge, farmers can better manage crops and livestock at different scales. But turning this potential into reality requires major research and development. The Sustainable Agricultural Tools project, funded by the Scottish Government’s RESAS programme, is addressing this challenge. The project is creating new bioinformatics, modelling, and statistical tools to convert