Field / Glasshouse experimentation

Andrew Creasy

Group Leader

Objectives

The objective of the group is to provide field and glasshouse facilities for research purposes. The purpose-built facilities at Broom's Barn include micro-propagation laboratories, glasshouse facilities and controlled-environment rooms.

There is a 120 ha farm with irrigation facilities and plot- covering tunnels for drought tolerance experiments. Soils range from loamy sand to clay loam. Crops grown on the farm include sugar beet, wheat, barley, oilseed rape and onions. There are specialist facilities for field studies of pests and diseases.

Current Projects

• Wheat drought tolerance.
• Sugar beet drought tolerance.
• Water use efficiency in onions.
• Weed manipulation in beet to provide targeted environmental benefits.
• New weed control strategies in sugar beet.
• Fungicidal control of foliar diseases.
• Aphid monitoring and infectivity studies.

Field/Glasshouse Experimentation Group

• Andrew Creasy - Group Leader
• Ray Bugg
• Andy Royal
• Kevin Sawford
• Richard Thomson
• John Booth