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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 ( read more

  • 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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  • Can alternatives to peat products meet both industry needs and net zero targets?

    With the UK about to host the UN global climate change summit COP26 in Glasgow later ...

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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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  • Why we need proof of the benefits of AI in agriculture

    I have been cooking with different flavours of AI for much of my career. During my time as Chief Technology Officer at Ocado, ...

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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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  • Seeking Future Proteins

    We are looking into a future where our proteins ...

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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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