Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW JULY/AUGUST 2020 25 SUSTAINABILITY how they are used, but because they too are a hazard,” he said. Mike said the innovation was coming from farmers themselves and agreed that positive change was coming, with a move away from what he described as “the chemical era”. “It’s now all about the mode of management and no longer just about creating a product to solve a problem,” he said. Sarah Carr, who works for Farm491, an agritech incubator and innovation space which helps growers achieve scalability in the agritech and agrifood ecosystem, said the mindset of younger generations was very di erent. “Young people are now being taught to have a very di erent approach and as a result we are seeing far more positive attitudes coming out of universities. Attitudes have de nitely changed,” she said. Hailing from a younger generation herself, Sarah said a lot of the ‘set mindset’ boiled down to trust. “If growers trust their agronomist who advises them to do something in a certain way, they’re going to be reluctant to change,” she said. “Essentially, if others aren’t changing around them either, they are going to remain in their bubble thinking ‘I’m alright as I am’. ere is no incentive for them to want to change.” While Simon referred to the positive research being carried out by Innovate UK and other institutions, agronomist John Sarup said it was the role of the agronomist to be giving out this information rather than scientists themselves, and acknowledged that agronomists now needed to focus more on education. “At the end of the day, there’s only one person who can make the real change and that is the farmer,” he said. “If they don’t know about the biology, then it can’t progress. If you think about it, all the work we have done over the past 50 years has been about creating a product to solve a problem. Now the system is about a bit more than the product. It’s about how you integrate things with the environment. I feel going forward, the farmer himself will become more knowledgeable about the whole system approach and there will probably be more support roles – with a much wider, integrated approach to agronomy.” Out-of-field learning Richard Shropshire, a grower with more than 40 years’ mixed farming knowledge, said free trade and innovative ideas were what created solutions, and the population increases in developing countries could also give birth to new inputs and ideas from new generations, Matthew Back, Harper Adams University Dr Matthew Back is a Reader in Nematology based at Harper Adams University. He is responsible for teaching plant pathology and crop protection to undergraduate and postgraduate students. His main role is concerned with research focussed on the biology and management of plant parasitic nematodes, particularly on potatoes. Research topics have largely concentrated on alternative management strategies such as biofumigation. Much of his research on biofumigation (e.g. biomass incorporation, sowing date and nutrient inputs) has been used to inform potato growers of best practice. Dr Back has a strong track record of supervising PhD students, having involvement in 16 projects to date. Simon Fox, Founder and Director, Emerald Research Simon has had a wide-ranging career as a soil scientist, agronomist and crop nutrition specialist, specialising in arable and vegetable crop nutrition for irrigated and unirrigated crops. Simon’s career has taken him to Saudi Arabia, Africa, Switzerland, France, Italy and the UK advising growers across a very wide range of temperate, subtropical and dryland irrigated crops. During this time, he has built and run soil, water and plant tissue analysis laboratories and developed new methods for more accurate assessment of crop nutrient availability. He continues to be heavily involved with fundamental research centred upon the relationship, interaction and availability of soil nutrients with the aim of maximising economic crop yield and quality, as well as research extended into projects with academic partners in the UK and across Europe in the development of new microbial technology and biochemistry from sustainable and renewable resources for crop biostimulation and crop protection. He is a Member of the Institute of Professional Soil Scientists (MISoilSci.), the British Society of Soil Science and the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). Owen Jones, Director, Emerald Research Owen held the role of President of the International Biocontrol Manufacturers’ Association (IBMA) for two years and was previously on the board of IBMA for ve years. He is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London since 1978, an Honorary Professor in the School of Biosciences, Cardi University and an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University since 2007. He has published widely in scienti c journals and textbooks on Integrated Pest Management and is regularly invited to give talks on the subject or chair meetings on the technology. Owen has many years of experience in the development and introduction of biological products and their subsequent introduction to UK and international crop production markets. Luke Hargrave, Principle Agronomist, Emerald Research Luke has more than 20 years of farming knowledge and experience with a particular focus on the potato and vegetable sector of the industry, where the link to soil health and crop nutrition has always been of core importance throughout his farming career. With a focus on profitable farming, he strives to maximise crop performance and quality while optimising inputs, pursuing ethical farming values and minimising the environmental impact we create on the land. “At the end of the day, there’s only one person who can make the real change and that is the farmer. If they don’t know about the biology, then it can’t progress.” John Sarup, Agronomist