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  • A Conversation with…Dr Jamila La Malfa-Donaldson

    Dr Jamila La Malfa-Donaldson, a Technical Research Associate at CHAP, brings a unique combination of scientific expertise and ...

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  • Outsmarting blight: Solutions in the soil

    Potatoes can be a particularly complex crop to produce and are increasingly seen as a high-risk for farmers who are already ...

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  • Worming their way to the top: Peat-free ‘living’ compost from Wormganix

    In a commercial wormery in West Yorkshire, Wormganix manufactures ...

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  • A Conversation with…Dr Emily Harrison

    Dr Emily Harrison is an Innovation Technical Research Associate and plant specialist at CHAP (one of the Agri-Tech Centres). In this interview, she expands ...

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  • From Innovation to Commercialisation: The Journey of Advanced Aeroponic​ ​Rolling Bench​es​​™​

    This project demonstrates great innovation in agri-tech but also serves as a valuable case study in navigating the path from conceptualisation to commercial ...

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  • Achieving sustainable plant-based proteins from the UK’s production systems

    In this insightful blog post, Dr Réka Haraszi, Innovation Sector Lead at CHAP, delves into the complex landscape of alternative proteins. Discover the ...

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  • Sustainability in focus: CHAP’s crop research track sprayer

    Looking ahead, climatic predictions depict further increases in such events, emphasising the urgent need for smart solutions to future-proof a resilient ...

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  • The science behind preservation: a closer look at culture collection methods

    These facilities not only offer access to a diverse array of high-quality resources, including reference organisms, novel specimens, pathogens at various ...

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  • What can biochar do for agriculture?

    “Biochar bridges the gap between old and new. Centuries or even millennia ago, indigenous farming communities in the Amazon rainforest were producing ...

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  • The Regen Ag toolkit supporting sustainable farming practices

    Farmers play a key role in addressing these challenges and face various pressures, such as reduced availability to chemicals for crop protection, improving ...

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  • Sustainability in agriculture businesses

    "Over the past two years, numerous initiatives and frameworks have emerged to address the growing awareness of nature loss and the role of business as ...

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  • In review: the role of genetic editing in crops

    Nowadays, we have numerous ways to control introduction of heritable mutations into a plant’s genetic material. For instance, the development of computing ...

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  • Financing a low-emission, nature-positive agricultural sector

    “In 2019 the GFI was established to sit at the nexus of the public and private sectors, convening sectoral coalitions to identify and unlock barriers ...

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  • How can botanic gardens support the agriculture sector?

    “In general, botanical gardens would not be regarded by the public as key players in the wider field of biodiversity conservation. Many would be surprised ...

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  • How can robotics and automation revolutionise the CEA sector?

    “Robotics and automation have markedly become more prominent in our food production system, mainly in pre- and post-production. Progress in AI has led ...

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  • Five steps towards a great idea

    1. Identify the need “It might seem obvious, but an innovation needs to solve someone’s pain-point, whether that’s a customer ...

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  • Improving nutrition and biostimulation through biomimicry

    “In the 1980s and 90s, I led a team of agronomists at Yieldcare, which later became UAP and then Agrii. The team came to believe that through a more ...

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  • Sustainable farming – creating an inclusive community for all

    “We first welcomed the public onto the farm back in 2010, when we took part in a Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme that included the educational ...

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  • A Conversation with…Dr Geraint Parry

    What is the AAB? The AAB is a learned society and charity, that ...

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  • Building confidence through peer-to-peer learning

    “The purpose of my role is to translate science into practice, but for this to be successful, translation needs to flow both ways. This is because as ...

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  • Renewed perspectives on regen ag

    “For my Nuffield study tour, I was lucky to spend 10 days in Canada exploring the likes of Ontario and Alberta, before spending 14 days in the States, ...

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  • Improving cover crop viability for pest control

    “In my previous blog, we looked at four different ways in which cover crops behave to control nematodes, whether that’s by acting as a poor host, or ...

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  • Using cover crops for nematode control

    “The wide-ranging benefits of cover crops are well documented, examples include their ability to improve soil health, increase organic matter and reduce ...

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  • Understanding how vertical farming can support sustainable crop growth

    Here in a guest blog with CHAP, Dave Scott, Founder and Chief Technical Officer for Intelligent Growth ...

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  • Defining a clear vision: how regulation impacts innovation in agriculture

    Before we deep dive into the complex realm of regulation, we should start with why we need it at all. Regulation is a process of putting balances in place ...

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  • Sustainable agriculture and design: reflections on current challenges

    “My interest in sustainable agriculture stems from my passion for understanding how the biosphere creates complexity in the natural world. For example, ...

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  • Why is the soil microbiome important for sustainable agriculture?

    How does the soil microbiome affect crops? It’s been known for decades that microorganisms in the soil can be beneficial or detrimental ...

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  • A Conversation with…Dr Andreea Stroia

    Dr Andreea Stroia is CHAP’s Innovation Content and Outreach Coordinator based in Dundee, Scotland. Here, she takes us through her journey so far in the ...

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  • A more sustainable agriculture is possible – multiple angles to achieve a common goal

    Adopting practices and specialised agricultural machinery  Some conservation and regen-ag practices require the ...

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  • Three ways ‘Omic’ technologies are lifting the lid on the soil microbiome

    1.Genomic technologies Genomic technologies, in particular DNA sequencing, have revolutionised our understanding of ...

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  • The Five Case Model

    Today the Five Case Model is recognised as the HM Treasury gold standard for the development of business cases and is a requirement of central government ...

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  • What is the soil microbiome and how do you measure it?

    What is the soil microbiome? The soil microbiome is the community of microorganisms present in the soil, incredibly complex with more ...

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  • Creating the warehouse of the future

    Managing Director, Harry Watts, explains the motivation behind this shift in a guest interview with CHAP. What sparked your interest in CEA? As ...

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  • Miscanthus myth busters

    Miscanthus is a relatively new crop in the UK, and as a result, myths about its establishment and impact remain. Mark Coleman, Customer Accounts Manager ...

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  • A Conversation with… Faye McDiarmid

    Faye McDiarmid is one of CHAP’s Technical Liaison Officers. She is based at Rothamsted Research, in the Digital Phenotyping Lab. Here she expands on ...

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  • 5 benefits of Miscanthus

    Not only is Miscanthus an ornamental grass species, it is also a high yielding energy crop, growing more than three metres tall. It produces a crop every ...

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  • A Conversation with… Dr Sumanta Talukdar

    Dr Sumanta Talukdar, Founder & CEO of Gardin, takes us through the importance of digital phenotyping in agriculture, his views on the sector and what ...

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  • Expanding the plant breeding toolbox

    Mark Nightingale, Oilseed Rape Plant Breeder and Technical Manager for Elsoms Seeds Ltd, ...

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  • CHAP’s fluorescence stereomicroscope – revealing a new world of research

    Part of laboratory facilities at partner Rothamsted Research, the microscope enables the early detection of transgenic expression including DAPI, CFP and ...

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  • Making science more accessible for improved sample ID

    Dr Mike Reeve, Head of Bioscience for CHAP partner CABI, has been using his long expertise in method development to overcome this hurdle, and to make MALDI-TOF ...

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  • Drought – what does it really mean for agriculture?

    Dr Laura Cumplido-Marin, CHAP’s Technical Liaison Officer at Cranfield discusses what this means for agriculture. “Moderate and normal amounts of ...

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  • On tour at GreenTech

    “The overarching theme of the event was ‘Happy Food, Healthy Flowers’, highlighting the need to focus our attention on plant health to address food ...

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  • A Conversation with… Alex Jubb

    Alex Jubb is CHAP’s Capability Co-ordinator and joined the team during Covid-19 to chair regular partner meetings and coordinate associated administration. ...

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  • Key aspects of digital phenotyping, challenges and opportunities

    Aside from being a CHAP member, Gardin is a start-up group based in Oxfordshire focused on developing optical remote sensing technology and machine learning ...

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  • Opening doors to lupins.

    CEO and Co-Founder of Phytoform Labs Ltd, Dr Will Pelton, believes that lupins have great potential, and thanks to recent legislation introduced to speed ...

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  • Asking why doesn’t all technology ‘stick’?

    In the agricultural sector, it seems there’s not just one, but two ‘valleys of death’ for innovations to overcome. This term refers to certain points ...

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  • ‘Realistic optimism’ – the future for vertical farming

    “For many, vertical farming was over-sold in the early days, as a miracle solution for food production. Yes, there are many exciting innovations within ...

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  • Examining alternative bioenergy crops

    Dr Cumplido-Marin is CHAP’s Technical Liaison Officer based at Cranfield University - the institution where she investigated the topic as part of her ...

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  • What is plant immune-priming and can it be used in sustainable agriculture?

    Fundamental research In plants, the immune system is controlled at many different levels including through the expression of different ...

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  • Understanding the Alternative Protein Market

    Diversifying diets The global alternative protein market has been growing at a fast pace in recent years, and is projected to reach ...

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  • Overcoming energy cost rises in controlled environment agriculture

    CHAP’s Innovation Sector Lead Martin Squire discusses the need for continuing innovation in energy supply and efficiency, to help extend the range of ...

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  • Low carbon show elevates net zero discussion

    During the keynote discussion, Defra’s Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food, Victoria Prentis, spoke about the key role that agricultural systems ...

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  • Getting to know your soil

    Soil consists of biological, physical and chemical components that collectively provide a medium in which plants can grow, forming a ‘living organism’. Beyond ...

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  • A Conversation with… Dr Réka Haraszi

    Dr Réka Haraszi is a Sector Lead with CHAP’s Innovation team. Here she outlines her career to date, and reflects on CHAP’s role in transforming crop ...

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  • Helping growers transition to biological control

    Modern agriculture is heavily reliant on a range of chemical pesticides to which there is increasing pest resistance and issues of human and environmental ...

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  • Make the most of plant protein opportunities

    Currently we are in the middle of a considerable re-think about how agricultural land is used, and that provides a great opportunity that we overlook at ...

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  • Rethinking plant protein production

    Protein, specifically protein for plant-based diets, is a hot trend in the food world. Despite this, the UK imports a large proportion of its plant-based ...

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  • Could drones be the future of crop protection in the UK?

    Many farmers face the same problem: how to efficiently produce crops to a tight margin while also being sustainable and protecting the environment. Key ...

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  • International Women’s Day: Dr Andreea Stroia tells her career story

    To celebrate International Women’s Day Dr Andreea Stroia, CHAP’s Innovation Content and Outreach Coordinator at CHAP, walks us through the focus of ...

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  • Integrating regen ag into modern agronomy

    My interest in regen ag dates back to my gap year in Australia, observing the adjustments farmers had made to make the most of their often-arid soils. ...

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  • We created our entrance song with phenotyping data

    When we launched, we were an unknown quantity outside academia, so needed access to a demonstrator, but more importantly, we needed a platform to showcase ...

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  • Creating fairness in soil health incentives

    There is a lot of discussion taking place at the moment regarding soil health and carbon policies and, as a result, the role of farmers in helping to look ...

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  • Developing proxies through digital phenotyping

    Last time I looked at how we can use the information – or datasets – collected through digital phenotyping and introduced the idea of proxy measurements. ...

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  • Extracting the data from digital phenotyping images

    As I explained in my earlier articles, modern phenotyping is often image based and involves a range of different kinds of sensor technologies. Often, the ...

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  • Getting down to the fine detail with digital phenotyping in the lab

    Last time I examined the field scale gantry-mounted digital phenotyping equipment available at Rothamsted Research and Cranfield University. This high-tech ...

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  • Field scale digital phenotyping

    Last time I explained that phenotyping is increasingly about capturing images that then allow us to extract measurements. To recap, you can measure fields ...

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  • Beginners’ guide to digital phenotyping

    If someone asked me what phenotyping was, I would say it was about the study of form and function: how living things appear, how they grow and what factors ...

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  • Five benefits of adopting intercropping techniques

    Intercropping is the practice of growing a mixture of crop species, either spatially within a field (be it using structured rows of alternating crops or ...

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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 ...

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  • 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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  • 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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  • 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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