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Potato production in the north east and north west of England has fallen by an estimated 36,100 tonnes on the previous season, to 205,200t.

An international group of scientists, led by Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre, has opened its door to healthier wheat varieties, after pinpointing genes responsible for the dietary fibre content of flour.

NIAB has opened its new Cambridge headquarters following a two-year, £25 million redevelopment and construction project.

Independent trials have shown more than £70/hectare can be saved on fertiliser costs for virtually the same wheat yield by using solid ammonium nitrate rather than nitrogen in a liquid format.

The weediest stubbles for many years, courtesy of few, if any, windows for cultural or chemical control make early spring cereal management vital this season.

Weed pressure will be a mixed bag this season after many winter crops missed pre-em treatments, but those late drilling can get ahead of the game with early control.

Syngenta’s first hybrid wheat variety could be available to French growers as soon as 2022, as part of the company’s ‘sustainable future for wheat’ plan.

Using RNA interference (RNAi), a biological process which disrupts the production of an organism’s proteins, Syngenta is looking at a biocontrol method which kills target species but has no impact on any other organism.

An ag-tech start-up looking for crowdfunding for ‘weed zapping’ robots reached its target of £700,000 within just two days of launching the campaign.

Tech companies looking to exploit the agricultural industry are at risk of damaging small farming business, if they only focus on large scale producers.