Public Funding for DLF Seeds LTD.

Farmers (and wider society) need more resilient species mixtures for their productive permanent grassland in order to reduce dependencies on regular ploughing and re-seeding and mineral fertiliser and herbicide inputs. Multi-species leys, which consist of several species of improved grasses, legumes and forage herbs, have demonstrated the improved resilience to drought while still providing an economical level of production, without the use of carbon-intensive synthetic nitrogen fertiliser. The number of species used in these mixtures, however, is limited to those that perform well under sown conditions and have seed that is economically produced. Many other species with potential benefits remain a challenge to produce commercial quantities of seed from and to establish readily into new or existing grassland. An exploration of scientific evidence and literature on grasslands including data from the GB Countryside Survey, will identify the species (and the properties of those species) that grow successfully within multi-species grassland mixes across GB. This evidence will be used as a basis for selecting species which can be used to pilot approaches for seed provision for the grasslands of the future. There are three approaches to supplying native seeds for grassland creation and restoration projects. They can be collected from natural or wild populations, produced from managed natural populations or produced under cultivated seed production systems. These three methods have different advantages and limitations, particularly with regards to the ability to capture the genetic diversity of a species in a population. This project will investigate innovative methods of seed production for selected native plants which have beneficial properties for livestock, biodiversity, soil or wider ecosystem services. The aim is to use innovative plant propagation techniques to multiply up seed stock which will be collected from diverse natural habitats. The project will test approaches for seed collection in line with best practice guidelines of the European Native Seed Producers Association (ENSPA). It will also test innovative plant propagation techniques which allow for the perpetual maintenance of plants established from the original collection in order to prolong the capacity to produce 1st generation seed stock, thus maintaining the maximum genetic diversity of the original collection. Finally it will test a variety of seed germination techniques (stratification, scarification, post-harvest maturation and treatment with germination-stimulating hormones) in order to maximise the representation of the collected population while reducing any conscious or unconscious selection pressures.

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 restrictions on neonicotinoid use and the development of insecticide resistance in aphids in Europe, threatens to significantly increase virus yellows in UK-grown sugar beet, making the UK crop less competitive in world markets. Development of sugar beet resistant to virus yellows is therefore critical. We have identified wild beet that are resistant to the effects of virus yellows and have crossed this trait into sugar beet. We propose to develop this resistance further by crossing our resistant lines with modern breeding varieties and carry out rigorous testing of our new varieties for virus yellows resistance, plant vigour and sugar yield. This 5yr pre-breeding project will accelerate the production of new virus yellows resistant sugar beet varieties, bringing significant economic and environmental benefits to the UK and Europe.

Grass yields currently achieved on-farm are less than half of the biological potential for the UK environment. One of the main reasons for low grass yields is the sub-optimal use of nitrogen (N) fertiliser and failure to account for spatial variation in N fertiliser demand within fields. Current methods of estimating fertiliser N requirements are complex and there is no method for variably applying N according to crop needs. This project aims to develop technology used on arable crops (Yara N-Sensor) to measure the N fertiliser requirement of grass crops. This will provide farmers with a simple, automated method of controlling more precisely the amount of N fertiliser applied to their grass crops. The benefits include greater grass yields, greater farm profitability and environmental benefits such as fewer greenhouse gas emissions and a lower risk of nitrate leaching. The consortium consists of Yara (lead & N manufacturer), ADAS (management & research), Precision Decisions (technical), Countrywide Farmers (knowledge transfer), and DLF Trifolium (grass breeders). This complimentary consortium ensures world class technical expertise alongside an effective route for exploitation.