The UK's agriculture and environment research councils BBSRC and NERC have unveiled millions of pounds worth of funding for six research projects, which aim to improve the sustainability of key agricultural and horticultural crops.

More than £4 million has been made available, as part of the Horticulture and Potato Initiative (HAPI), which has seen the research councils working with the Scottish government to support work to improve the functioning of supply chains, increase crops’ resilience to climate change, bolster plants’ resistance to disease and environmental change, and develop more efficient ways of farming.

BBSRC will be contributing the majority of the funds, which will be used to drive research in areas identified through work with the industry. These include work on pests and pathogens, seed quality and resource use efficiency.

Dr Celia Caulcott, BBSRC Executive Director, Innovation and Skills explained, “Working with industrial partners, we have identified key areas where research is necessary to help address the challenges of a sustainable food supply. These projects research will help to deliver improved yields, and reduce waste, in turn benefitting both producers and consumers in the UK and worldwide.”

The six projects receiving funding during this round of HAPI are:

• A project at East Malling Research to tackle apple replant disease;
• A joint Sainsbury’s Laboratory and University of Leeds programme to engineer traits that could increase potatoes’ resistance to diseases and bruising;
• Work to develop new varieties of brassica that can cope with higher temperatures, being conducted by scientists at the John Innes Centre and University of Exeter;
• A Rothamsted Research and University of Warwick project to develop integrated approaches to tackling turnip yellow virus (TuYV);
• A collaborative investigation into improving the quality of fruit and veg post-harvest (including prepared apple, cabbage and lettuce) between scientists from Harper Adams University, the University of Reading and the University of Warwick;
• And another joint-project featuring researchers from the same three institutions, which will look at improving disease resistance in lettuce crops.