Syngenta UK Limited

Rhizoctonia solani is an aggressive soil-borne pathogen of oilseed rape (OSR) and canola worldwide. It is implicated in the yield decline of the crop when grown with increased frequency in field rotations. Presently there are no disease resistant varieties, hence the control of the disease relies on the use of chemical seed treatment. The key objectives o...

Potato late blight is one of the world's most destructive crop diseases, with £3.5Bn annual losses globally in an industry suffering stagnant yields for the last decade. This project will develop a rapid acoustic biosensor device for in-field identification of air-borne sporangia of Phytophthora Infestans (causal agent of late blight), to meet the compell...

Virus yellows in sugar beet is a greater problem in the UK than anywhere else in Europe because of our maritime climate, which favours the aphid vector. The UK beet industry invests up to £7M annually on insecticides (seed treatments and foliar sprays) for aphid control, without which virus yellows could cause losses of up to £10million/year. Recent EU re...

This proposal aims to develop an automated system for precise application of nitrogen (N) fertiliser and plant growth regulators (PGRs). Algorithms and software will be developed for integrating diverse forms of data from crop sensing instruments, yield maps, soil maps and soil N measurements. This will enable more accurate N fertiliser and PGR management...

Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease caused by Fusarium and Microdochium spp. can result in significant reductions of yield and quality of cereals. The incidence of FHB disease is on an upwards trend and the strains implicated in the infection are diversifying. Such trends are predicted to continue as the effects of global warming become apparent. Mycotoxin...