Potato Review

24 POTATO REVIEW JULY/AUGUST 2020 SUSTAINABILITY had been overloaded and a rethink was now needed, where the importance of the soil and the environment was considered. On the ipside, he said many natural resources, such as nitrogen and carbon, are being underused. However, he questioned whether it was possible to keep up the volumes of growth by adopting a more cohesive approach and said when it came to sustainability, we should not try to sustain soils in the state they are currently in. “ ey are not suited to growing the crops, so we have to improve them rst, understand how a system functions, but then we have to nd the right balance between that and the intensity of growing,” he said. Overcoming ‘old-style’ Wilson Boardman, who has worked in both technical and commercial roles within the pesticide industry but whose main focus is now biostimulants, said a lack of joined-up thinking, and investment in training have been obstacles to the introduction of more sustainable farming in all countries, with growers receiving di erent advice from di erent agronomists and ‘old style’ thinking taking precedence over new insights. “In the UK we have a generation of agronomists who are reaching retirement age. ey don’t want to know about new stu ,” he said, adding: “Can they tell you how things will work with products based on amino acids and plant extracts? No. And they are not really interested in learning.” He said many have the chemical knowledge, but not the nutritional knowledge, and don’t know how to integrate what they are already doing with what they need to do in the future. At the same time, the nancial impact of legislation and actives withdrawal on the pesticides industry was impeding this. “ e pesticide distributors are shedding costs left, right and centre at a time when we need them to hold onto the trainees, and the new people and new thinking that are coming into the industry,” he said. In many of the technical talks he gives, Wilson said he ends every presentation with a call for pesticide advice to be integrated with nutritional advice and soil treatment advice, and to consider what a ‘bene cial’ and ‘biopesticide’ actually were. He said the EU was an over-regulated market. “ ey have adopted the French style of assessing hazard, not risk, and fundamentally that is wrong for our industry. Petrol will be banned because it is hazardous, and we are losing pesticides, not because of THE DELEGATES: Richard Shropshire, Woodhall Growers With 40 years’ mixed farming knowledge from the late (pre-chemical) 1950s and 12 years of organic farming experience from 1997 to 2009, Woodhall Growers Ltd (WGL) has extensive experience in growing vegetables organically. Innovations have been integral to the prevention of pests and diseases on its organic land. ese include a exible system of fertility building, variety of choice, and careful site selection for particular crops. John Sarup, Potato Agronomist After a long career in the industry, John set up SPUD Agronomy & Consultancy Ltd in 2012 to provide specialist potato agronomy and consultancy advice, having an in uence on approximately 4,860 ha of seed, processing and table potatoes. In November 2016 John was awarded the AHDB Potatoes inaugural “Above and Beyond Award” for his “exceptional commitment to clients and tireless work to make a real di erence to their businesses” and has spoken at industry conferences in New Zealand, Victoria and Tasmania. In 2017 he set up the Association of Independent Potato Agronomists (AIPC), which provides an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning and development, meeting four or ve times a year. Mike Harrington, Director, Edaphos Mike Harrington is the director of agronomy company Edaphos, which he set up in 2005 after 30 years in the industry. e aim of the company is to o er a balanced solution to poor soils, less nutrient exchange and poorer root systems by understanding how a soil works, how it links with a system of growing crops and taking that into account, recommending chemicals and/or fertilisers if necessary. Edaphos’ work is based around a process of measurement and evaluation to create a programme for clients, helping establish soil biology management as an e cient way of growing crops to imrove yield and quality. Wilson Boardman, Managing Director, Micromix Wilson Boardman started his career working in the pesticide industry in both technical and commercial roles for multi-national manufacturers. e second phase of his career saw him building his own agronomy team in the UK and focussing on a more holistic approach to nutrition to contribute to reducing pesticide inputs, particularly the role of micronutrient formulations. By 2010 bio stimulants were the main focus of product developments; including proprietary technology that led to UK Government grant- funded research at the University of Nottingham. Micromix was acquired by the OLMIX group in June 2018 and Wilson is now the Global Ambassador for Plant Care Products for the French owned group. Sarah Carr, Farm491 Farm491 is the UK’s leading agriTech incubator and innovation space focused on the future of farming and food systems. Sarah works closely with Farm491 members, supporting them to achieve scalability in the agriTech and agrifood ecosystem. Sarah also delivers Farm491’s Inspiring AgriTech Innovation Programme workshops, leading sessions on “one-page business plans” and “pitching to investors”. She has previously worked as a farm trader for an agricultural merchant.