Thomas Thomson (Blairgowrie) Limited

The UK raspberry industry is seriously impacted by the cost of production. The price of raspberries over the last 20 years has grown by 232% (Defra Horticultural Statistics 2021). This increase in the price per kilo mainly reflects the changes in production systems (eg. programmed plant propagation, polytunnels, irrigation and fertigation, substrate use, ...

_Phytophthora infestans_ is the pathogen that caused the Great Irish Potato Famine and today over 170 described species of _Phytophthora_ cause crop disease on a global scale, costing commercial crop industries billions of dollars. The UK fruit industry and raspberry particularly has been decimated by _Phytophthora_ root rot (PRR) with an 80% reduction in...

Throughout their life cycle, plants are subjected to many adverse environmental conditions including low light levels and periods of drought or extreme temperatures which can dramatically affect plant survival and limit productivity. In order to cope with such stresses, plants adjust metabolically and physiologically. Unanticipated variation in crop devel...

There is a need to develop a greater understanding of factors affecting the speed and proficiency of blueberry plant establishment and thereafter maintenance of yield. Bushes do not become fully productive until they are between five and seven years old requiring a significant financial layout from growers before any expected return to profit. A significa...

Yield instability negatively impacts UK soft fruit growers, preventing accurate profit prediction and maximisation, causing volatility of UK supply. The problem is now well recognised within industry, though the causes of significant season to season yield variation are unknown. This proposal aims to identify the physiological and biochemical processes un...

In the Northern Hemisphere with damper conditions, Phytophthora root rot is causing a rapid decline in raspberry plantations grown in soil and also greatly decreasing the life span of production of raspberries grown in substrate with negative environmental consequenses. Plant based resistance is the only way forward and limited material exists that consis...

New crop varieties that can tolerate abiotic/biotic stresses are essential for maintaining crop productivity in current and future growing environments. Breeding stress-tolerant crop varieties, however, is limited by the precision and throughput of plant phenotyping. This project will develop and apply a novel tractor-mounted platform for precise and high...

Currently there is great scope for increasing soft fruit production in the UK to meet demand from consumers and processors. Soft fruit is a success story for the UK being a valuable and sustainable horticulture industry with the associated broader health benefits derived from consumption. Currently however no high quality varieties with resistance to pest...

This project aims to understand and utilise plant physical mechanisms for resistance to pest and diseases in soft fruit/bush crops, to overcome changes in EU Directive 91/414/EEC and WFD and satisfy consumer demand for residue free, high quality fruit grown in the UK. Fresh fruit accounts for a market of £4 billion in the UK, and soft fruit/berries accoun...