A new facility focused on the future of crop storage has opened at the James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie.
The Crop Storage and Post-harvest Solutions (CSPS) facility, which is funded by the Scottish and UK Governments, formally opened its doors in May. The team based at the facility will explore the impact of elements such as temperature, gas composition and humidity on the quality, nutritional value and appearance of stored crops.
Currently, 5-20% of initial crop productions are lost due to insufficient or poor storage, especially in developing countries. The facility leverages world leading plant and data sciences along with advanced technological and digital innovations to explore methods for prolonging the shelf life of produce by inducing a ‘near-sleep state’ post-harvest to preserve its inherent qualities and manage disease.
Professor Derek Stewart, Director of the Advanced Plant Growth Centre which operates the CSPS, highlighted the urgency of the facility’s research objectives:
“Time is not on our side. We have a growing global population that needs fed, and multi-billion pounds food and drink sectors which are based entirely around having access to a sufficient supply of good quality crops. Climate change, which is affecting growing seasons, is impacting crop yields and quality, and leading to food shortages is showing no signs of abating. Furthermore, any changes to agricultural practices have a direct impact on a crop’s performance post-harvest, and so the widespread interest in regenerative agriculture will come with a need for allied post-harvest storage research.
“Crop storage has to be a critical part of ensuring a sustainable supply of crops, and we need to get better at it and reduce waste. With the variety of scientific tools, we have at our disposable at the Hutton, we are able to address very specific concerns in highly controlled conditions. Our findings are more reliable, faster and relevant compared to more traditional store-and-pray approach”.
The crop storage facility is delivered in partnership with the UK Agri-Tech Centre and is part of a network of crop storage facilities involving ADAS and the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the University of Greenwich.
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For further details please contact: Sharon Simpson, Director of Communications, 07857 528757.
Notes for editors
The Advanced Plant Growth Centre along with the International Barley Hub is part of the £62m investment from UK and Scottish Governments through the Tay Cities Region Deal.
The global hub for precision and controlled environment agriculture and the agrotechnology sector is expected to be worth $23bn by 2025.
About the James Hutton Institute
The James Hutton Institute is a world-leading, multi-site scientific organisation encompassing a distinctive range of integrated strengths in land, crop, waters, environmental and socio-economic science. The Institute has 550 employees and 125 PhD students and takes its name from the 18th-century Scottish Enlightenment scientist, James Hutton, the polymath, agricultural innovator and founder of geology. www.hutton.ac.uk