The big picture: using wildflower strips for pest control
They may be beautiful, but these strips prove pretty deadly for every farmer's mortal enemy: aphids
AGZERO+
Bringing together researchers and farmers to test innovative farming systems at scale.
Project Summary
Start date:
27 June 2022
Duration:
5 Years
Project Leader:
A major new five-year research programme to support the UK’s transition towards home-grown food production that is sustainable, carbon-neutral and has a positive effect on nature.
Lead partner UKCEH will work with Rothamsted Research, the British Geological Survey, the National Centre for Earth Observation and Plymouth Marine Laboratory on the £13.8 million programme, which has been named ‘AgZero+’. It is jointly funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
AgZero+ will bring together a community of researchers and farmers to test innovative farming systems at scale. It will balance the need to produce nutritious food with reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, while at the same time enhancing biodiversity and soil health (a holistic approach known as ‘net zero+').
Detail
The programme will provide data from national sensor networks, satellites and a network of commercial study farms and study catchments. These will be made available to the research community and other stakeholders through data portals and advanced digital tools to support environmental planning and management.
AgZero+ builds on the success of the £12 million ASSIST (Achieving Sustainable Agricultural Systems) project, which addressed the challenge of feeding a growing population by making food production more efficient and resilient to climate change, and reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint.
Project Leader
Prof. Jonathan Storkey
Plant Ecologist
Team Members
Dr Jordana Rivero
Grazing Livestock Systems Specialist
Dr Gonzalo Irisarri
Ecology of rangelands and grazing
Prof. Simon Willcock
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST
Dr Ian Shield
Agronomist
Dr Alice Milne
Spatial Statistician
Dr Ryan Sharp
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODELLER
Dr David Comont
Ecologist
Helen Metcalfe
Ecosystems Modeller
Dr Kelly Jowett
APPLIED ENTOMOLOGIST
Martin Torrance
ECOLOGIST - ENTOMOLOGY
Dr Georgia Mitrousia
Engagement Manager
Deborah Beaumont
ECOLOGIST
Dr Samantha Cook
Behavioural Ecologist
Collaborators
UKCEH,the British Geological Survey, the National Centre for Earth Observation and Plymouth Marine Laboratory