Five reasons to use the CHAP crop research track sprayer
In addition the examples above the system at JHI can also be used as a test bed for ... read more
Carbon capture: a farmer’s view
I firmly believe that this is the most exciting time ever to be a farmer: the opportunities coming our way are extraordinary so this is the perfect time ... read more
Molecular biology approaches to improving plant health
Our Plants, Our Future addressed a range of plant health challenges, as well as considering policymaking and alternatives to pesticides. It was particularly ... read more
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Five reasons to use the CHAP crop research track sprayer
CHAP has supported a crop research track sprayer at the James Hutton Institute (JHI), a leading innovator in the agriculture, environment, and land-use ...
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Carbon capture: a farmer’s view
I firmly believe that this is the most exciting time ever to be a farmer: the opportunities coming our way are extraordinary so this is the perfect time ...
read more -
Molecular biology approaches to improving plant health
Our Plants, Our Future addressed a range of plant health challenges, as well as considering policymaking and alternatives to pesticides. It was particularly ...
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Three more NRC isolates important to UK crop protection
Following the success of our first ‘isolate of the week’ social media series, we have decided to run a sequel. Sophie Lane, CHAP’s National Reference ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Steve Edgington
Dr Steve Edgington is CABI’s Biopesticide Specialist. He has more than 25 years’ experience in protecting crops using biologicals and leads the work ...
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Five digital imaging systems used in the Plant Phenotyping and Soil Health Facility
The Plant Phenotyping and Soil Health Facility at Cranfield University facility has the capability to replicate the entire cropping cycle, from ...
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Regenerative agriculture: a vision for the future
CHAP has recently acquired a range of advanced agricultural machines at Newcastle University, complementing the existing Field Scale Precision Equipment ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Jennifer Banfield-Zanin
Dr Jennifer Banfield-Zanin is Senior Project Manager and Head of Sustainability and Entomology, at CHAP partner Stockbridge Technology Centre in Cawood, ...
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How Digital Phenotyping is progressing innovation in agri-tech
When most people think of digital phenotyping, they may think of scoring crop traits for breeding or assessing a product. But in CHAP’s Digital Phenotyping ...
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Why is digital plant phenotyping important?
Plant phenotyping is an essential component in a lot of key aspects of crop science. For example, if you are a crop breeder, you will have to score large ...
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Using digital plant phenotyping to detect pests and pathogens
Imaging technologies have the potential to become a key player as a method for early detection of pests and diseases, due to the need to rapidly identify ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Laura Cumplido-Marin
Dr Laura Cumplido-Marin is a Technical Liaison Officer, based at Cranfield University, in the Plant Phenotyping and Soil Health Facility. Here she chats ...
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Soil health and Regen Ag take centre stage at CropTec
Defra’s introduction of the Sustainable Farming Incentive’s (SFI) soil standards has reinforced the importance of building a healthy soil system. With ...
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Climate change and food production: the potential effects
The Climate Change Bites panel of experts discussed the impact of climate change on biodiversity loss and the shifts in insect and tick population numbers ...
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Transforming agronomy by taking molecular biology to the field
Successfully detecting early-stage diseases, before any symptoms are visible to the naked eye, is challenging for both growers and agronomists: understanding ...
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Accelerate your product pipeline with high-throughput digital plant-phenotyping
For plant breeders, developing new varieties of plants and seeds is a long and expensive process. Furthermore, once a new variety is on the market, its ...
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Three imaging systems used to examine crop traits, weeds, pests, and pathogens
The main focus of the Digital Phenotyping Lab is multispectral imaging. ...
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Five benefits of digital plant phenotyping for farmers
Agriculture is heavily reliant on seeing and understanding the natural world. We look at the benefits of digital plant phenotyping for those on the front-line ...
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Advancing current breeding strategies with digital plant phenotyping
The breeding process is never going to be instantaneous and the burning question now is if we are at the point where the speed of breeding is fast enough ...
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How is the plant phenotype influenced by external factors?
The outward characteristics of a plant, which are influenced both by the internal genotype (the DNA code that tells the plant what it is) and the external ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Archita Barua
Dr Archita Barua is a Technical Liaison Officer, based at our office at CABI, in Egham. Here she chats about her career to date, explains why she decided ...
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Explaining ESG investment in agriculture
At CHAP’s recent Advisory Group, led by Ms Senior, key players from both inside and outside of agriculture were invited to discuss ESG and share experiences. ...
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From Academia to Agriculture Part 2: The Innovation Process, a snapshot of farming’s future?
As seen previously, innovation can be a slow process. But surely now in the modern scientific age, it is quicker? At CHAP I certainly think it can be, ...
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Top of the Protein Crops: let’s talk legumes…
Faba beans and lupin have great potential to be cultivated in the UK but, as a general rule they are currently underutilised and overlooked crops. The ...
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Future plant proteins: it’s not just about growing more peas
Protein and other nutrient composition of crops are primary determinants of how they can be used after harvest. Currently, plant proteins in the UK for ...
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From academia to agriculture: How science underpinned the Green Revolution
Dr Bastow began by putting the spotlight on how farming has directly benefited from scientific research and innovation over the past few centuries. “Science ...
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Getting to the heart of regen ag
I love working with farmers. Especially those looking to develop, change, improve and seek new solutions and innovation to the ever-changing challenges. ...
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Are we ready for plant-based diets?
Protein is a key part of any balanced diet, and has traditionally come from animal products (meat, dairy, eggs) with plants such as pulses and nuts playing ...
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Examining the approvals process for biopesticides
Biopesticides are becoming an integral part of integrated pest management (IPM) programmes particularly in the horticultural sector, and are likely to ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Jemma Taylor
Dr Jemma Taylor is a Research Associate for New Innovations, based at our office at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden. Here she chats about her career to ...
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Four Vertical Farming Systems and their functions
In our recent social media series “Ross’s Routine”, Ross McKellar, CHAP’s Research Assistant at the Innovation Hub for Controlled Environment Agriculture ...
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A Conversation with… Ross McKellar
Ross McKellar is the Research Assistant at our partner Liberty Produce, up at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee. He is responsible for day-to-day maintenance ...
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Nature-based solutions for arable cultivation
I am guessing you have heard of ‘public money for public goods’ or Environmental Land Management, which is the future of agri-environment schemes. ...
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A Conversation with… CHAP’s new Member Director, Martin Evans
Martin Evans was elected to the CHAP board as member director at the last AGM. Here he chats to CHAP about his varied and extremely well-travelled career ...
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Groundswell from the scientists’ perspective
The Groundswell Regenerative Agriculture Conference and Show witnessed the biggest and broadest attendance yet. It was a melting pot of information and ...
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Novel substrates and disruptive innovation – the way forward?
With global controlled environment production expanding significantly and peat-use removal accelerating, it is clear that more needs to be done to provide ...
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Introducing… agri-tech innovations from South America
One of the great delights of being CHAP’s International Business Development Manager is the opportunity to attend a wide range of amazing international ...
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Five peat alternatives used in horticulture – how sustainable are they?
In part one of this three-part series, Dr Aurélie Bovi set out the challenges faced by the UK horticulture industry in its search for reliable and sustainable ...
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A Conversation with… Lucy Plowman
Lucy Plowman is the Technical Liaison Officer at our partner Stockbridge Technology Centre. She works closely with the staff at STC, looking after the ...
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Five NRC isolates with value for UK crop protection
In our recent social media series #Isolateoftheweek Sophie Lane, CHAP’s National Reference Collection Technician at CABI, shared her favourite microorganism ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Nicolas Kral
Dr Nicolas Kral is the Chief Technology Officer of Phytoform Labs, which he co-founded in 2017 with CEO Dr William Pelton. Earlier this year, Dr Kral spoke ...
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Examining potential biological and bio-rational control strategies for slugs
Our paper A Literature Review of Biological and Bio-Rational Control ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Alex McCormack
Dr Alex McCormack, CHAP’s Scientific Support Coordinator, has been invited to present on behalf of CHAP at industry trade show, Cereals. The event offers ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Franklin Ilogu
Dr Franklin Ilogu is the Capability Research Associate for CHAP’s Phenotyping Lab at Rothamsted Research. He previously worked at NAIT – Industry Solutions ...
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Demystifying AI in agriculture
Hannah Senior hosted CHAP’s recent Advisory Group where key players, working both inside and outside agriculture, were invited to discuss AI and share ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Tom Ashfield
Dr Tom Ashfield heads up CHAP’s Phenotyping Lab at Rothamsted Research. His work is focused on using digital imaging to ease high-throughput phenotyping ...
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Why data collection has to become part of farming
Overall, the problem boils down to how to modify how crops are being grown now in order to maximise the profitability when they are sold in future. The ...
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Biopesticides the dawning of a Second Green Revolution?
In order to champion the use of novel or alternative plant protection products, we need to try to truly understand what they are and how best to use them. Biopesticides ...
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A Conversation with… Professor Neil Boonham
Professor Neil Boonham is the Chair of Applied Crop Science at Newcastle University’s Institute for AgriFood Research and Innovation. We chatted to him ...
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Five things vertical farmers need to know before applying for food standards certification
Kate Brunswick, Strategic Relationship Manager at CHAP Member Innovation Agri-Tech, has learnt a lot as the company applied for a Food Standards certification. ...
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The role of marketing in agri-tech
I won’t be the first and I won’t be the last to have had my trade (marketing), dumbed down and considered as not business critical. During such conversations, ...
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A Conversation with… Will Wells
Will Wells is the founder and CEO of innovative agri-tech Artificial Intelligence business Hummingbird Technologies. The aim is to increase yields, optimise ...
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Smallholders’ need for accessible digital agricultural support services
Surging population growth has many implications for the planet and humanity. The biggest question for the nearly 4 billion people currently living in less ...
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A Conversation with… the founders of CropSafe
John McElhone (left) and Micheál McLaughlin (far left) are the co-founders of CHAP member CropSafe. John is the Chief Exec, while Micheál has taken on ...
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CRISPR-Cas and its potential for crops
In November 2020, two scientists, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A Doudna, received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work understanding Clustered ...
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A Conversation with… Charles Veys
Charles Veys is the Managing Director of Fotenix, which provides diagnostic equipment for the agriculture sector, to help growers identify disease symptoms ...
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Five ways CHAP’s International Pest Horizon Scanning capability is supporting crop production
As part of its International Pest Horizon Scanning (IPHS) capability, CHAP has funded the distribution of 180 tablet devices to extension workers across ...
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Bright idea to trusted tool: the role of farmer-led innovation
“Trust me – it’ll make your crops grow better.” If these words were true every time they were uttered to a farmer, there’d be no hunger. That’s ...
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DNA barcoding of Nematodes to predict soil health: Are we there yet?
Nematodes or roundworms are microscopic, non-segmented, worm-like organisms found in all sorts of ecosystems, from deep ocean vents to mountain peaks. ...
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A Conversation with… Martin Driscoll
Martin Driscoll is the CEO of Dyacare, a company that provides global access to sustainable solutions for crop nutrition and health, soil conditioners ...
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Yorkshire could be the circular trailblazer the UK needs right now
Food is big business in Yorkshire and the Humber. In fact, food manufacturing makes up about 20% of our GVA. The industry is reliant on our rural landscape ...
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A move towards precision farming will lead to an improved farm ecosystem
The green revolution was ushered in by new chemistry, mechanisation and advances in plant breeding. The results were miraculous gains in crop yields around ...
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A greener side to glyphosate?
First synthesized in 1950 and originally patented as a chelator in the Sixties, glyphosate has been with us for longer than 85% of the UK population. It ...
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Coronavirus and invasive species
In many ways a coronavirus is what we would consider another invasive species, novel to its new hosts and neighbours but well known to its original ones ...
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A Conversation with… Barbara Bray
Nutritionist Barbara Bray has a passion for educating people about food and nutrition, and her firm Alo Solutions advises agri-food businesses on nutrition ...
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21st Century India: A potential powerhouse in food-production
In December 2019, I spent a week in India as part of a British Trade Delegation looking at the potential for collaboration between government, academia ...
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A Conversation with… Ant Surrage
Ant Surrage is a technical development specialist at agricultural supplier - and CHAP member – Fargro. We chatted about his passion for plant protection ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Matthew Ryan
Dr Matthew Ryan is a microbiologist and curator of the Genetic Resource Collection at CABI (the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International), in ...
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A New Dawn for Hydroponics – A Low Cost Sustainable Energy Solution
The innovative integration of technologies, delivering low-cost sustainable energy, can significantly reduce the costs of growing food in hydroponic/vertical ...
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Five reasons why using CropMonitor Pro makes sense
The application of precision technology has regularly been touted ...
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A Conversation with… Caroline Drummond
Caroline Drummond has been Chief Executive of LEAF since it started in 1991. After graduating in Agriculture she worked on farms in the UK and overseas ...
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Reflections on the first online Cereals event
The atmosphere and focus around this year’s Cereals event can be neatly summed up by a quote from Jeremy Moody, of the Central Association of Agricultural ...
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Five reasons why tucking into a portion of potatoes helps the UK
In what looks like being the worst recession in UK history, UK farmers and food processors are playing their part to keep the country’s economy going. ...
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The Rise of Machine Learning in Agriculture
Having grown up on the fairly rural Isle of Wight, and being the son of a butcher, I’ve probably had more exposure to the agricultural world than most ...
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Five reasons to run a project in the IHCEA
Use of controlled environments for crop growth is increasing in the UK. However, we are still way behind countries such as the USA and Japan, which have ...
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A Conversation with… Dr William Pelton
Dr William Pelton is the CEO of Phytoform Labs. He co-founded the company in 2017 with Nicolas Kral, whom he met while studying at Imperial College London. ...
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Reflections on the Oxford Farming Conference
“I attended the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) for the first time in 2018. A fellow 2017 Nuffield Farming Scholar and good friend from Brazil was invited ...
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A Conversation with… Dr Belinda Clarke
Former John Innes Centre scientist Dr Belinda Clarke has been Director at AgritechE since its launch in 2014. Originally trained as a plant scientist, ...
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Five reasons plants love aeroponics
Vertical farming is on the rise. Many people are becoming aware of the potential of indoor and vertical farming. It allows crops to be grown year-round, ...
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Anticipating the consequences of new technologies
These new technologies include Artificial Intelligence, robotics, drones, gene editing, the Internet of Things, among many others. The interests of ...
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Five reasons for putting farmers in the driving seat
All too often in agricultural research and development, farmers are seen to be just the end users. In fact, only 1% of agricultural research in the UK ...
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Accurate localised growing-media moisture data: what can it do?
There’s a lot of talk about “big data” at the moment; the kind of data that is collected by satellites or huge sensor networks, processed in vast ...
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A Conversation with… Professor Janet Bainbridge
As chief executive of the Agricultural Technology Organisation UKTI, and a wide experience of working with Government especially scientific regulatory ...
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Sustainability and food security
A great deal is talked about the need to make farming ‘smarter’: the need to take on new technologies that offer a whole plethora of opportunities. ...
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Five ways data and diagnostics capabilities work in crop and farm management
The major stages in the data and diagnostics pipeline are; data capture, sampling and analysis, machine learning, management and automation. Each of these ...
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Five benefits of Vertical Farming
Vertical farming is a method of growing crops in stacked or vertical layers, leading to a higher yield for a given footprint i.e. it enables farms to produce ...
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The Agriculture Bill: Britain leading a new dawn for farming
A new world of opportunity is dawning for agriculture. The way we farm is about to change forever. We’re on the cusp of a fourth agricultural revolution: ...
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Driving Sustainable Agriculture in Tanzania
I believe the soil is a farm’s bank account and its most valuable asset, yet too often it’s treated with little respect. My company is now working ...
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A Conversation with… Emma Kelcher, Elveden Farms Ltd
Emma Kelcher is one of the new breed of farmers: breaking away from the stereotypical image, she is young and female. We spoke to her to find out what ...
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Redressing Consumer Opinion on Agriculture
I think there is a real sense in which the agricultural industry is allowing others to tell its story and failing to defend itself from their accusations. The ...
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What’s in the way? Barriers to the Agri-Food Data Revolution
Data has revolutionised industries across the board. In manufacturing, maintenance costs have been reduced by 40%, waste by 20% and yields improved by ...
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Five things you might not realise can be grown without soil
Soilless Controlled Environment Agriculture, hydroponics and aeroponics, is expanding its reach beyond the herbs and salad crops it has become synonymous ...
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Where Should our Salads Come From?
At this time of year, when the sun barely seems to rise above the horizon and our attentions are focused on the rich pickings that the festive season can ...
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Five great reasons to Save Our Soils
To mark World Soil Day, Professor Jane Rickson from Cranfield University outlines what we can do to preserve our soils, and how the CHAP Phenotyping and ...
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Five new ways to find higher value from crop waste
Yorkshire and the Humber host a world-class research base in a strongly agricultural region. So it’s perhaps not surprising that the area is full of ...
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Riding the Slime Wave with Dr Jenna Ross
Dr Ross’s report was published by the Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust in October. Here she summarises her findings, outlining the crucial need for ...
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Tangible results at CHAP Innovation Collaboration Day
The concept of collaboration beyond its dictionary meaning is a fairly new one for me. Prior to starting my current job, I must admit my mind never dwelled ...
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CIPC loss will affect storage and push up potato prices
Losing CIPC (our mainstay sprout suppressant) at a European and national level will be a huge blow to the potato sector. Nationally, our dead-reckoning ...
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Five challenges facing the pesticides industry
Pesticides are under increasing scrutiny. Richard Maycock examines the challenges facing producers and growers as they battle to protect crops, while still ...
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A Conversation with… Charlie Guy, LettusGrow Co-Founder
What led a group of Bristol University students to decide to set up a food production company while they were in the middle of doing their finals? Read ...
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Five reasons why growers should consider using ETFE greenhouses
CHAP has partnered with RIPE to launch the NLG Centre. Phillip Lee explains why this EFTE-clad greenhouse is an important advance in the field of controlled ...
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A Conversation with… Phillip Lee, founder of RIPE
Phillip Lee is the founder, MD and CEO of Evolve Growing Solutions and RIPE. CHAP finds out what drives him and how he is intending to revolutionise the ...
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Entrepreneurship and Change: the importance of start-ups
Entrepreneur (noun): A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking a financial risk in the hope of profit. Oxford English Dictionary Entrepreneurship ...
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Agriculture is part of the solution to the climate crisis
In September, the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales (NFU) unveiled its vision describing how British farming can reach net zero greenhouse gas ...
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Five Great Reasons to Work with Stockbridge Technology Centre
Situated in the heart of Yorkshire, Stockbridge Technology Centre works to develop the horticultural and agricultural industry through technology transfer ...
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Unpicking nutrient circularity in controlled environment agriculture
Nutrients in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) are combined with water as a fertigation solution, and can be generally described as being either ...
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CABI focuses on potential for research opportunities
Over the past couple of years, the National Reference Collection team at CABI in Egham have done a lot of work into developing a rapid and inexpensive ...
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A Conversation with… Zeina Chapman
Zeina Chapman is a director at Liberty Produce, which is partnering with CHAP to create the Innovation Hub for Controlled Environment Agriculture, within ...
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What next for (UK) Urban Agri-Tech?
The only constant is change. It’s a truism, but the outcomes are profound. For an example, you only need to look at Brexit in the UK. Whatever your political ...
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A Conversation with… Dr. Jane Rickson
How did Professor Jane Rickson become one of the UK's leading soil health experts? Read our interview to find out... How would you describe ...
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Five Reasons to Join our Growing Agri-Tech Community
CHAP membership is available to all, from new start-ups to established organisations. Our mission is to better understand the challenges facing the industry ...
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Looking ahead from our new Business Development Manager
Chris Delf writes “Since joining CHAP on January 7th 2019, I have been completely overwhelmed by the depth of research capabilities that ...
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