BRITISH BEET RESEARCH ORGANISATION

STRATEGY FOR R&D AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER 2010 TO 2015

SECTION 2       CURRENT RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS

Table 1 lists the expenditure committed in each research area for the immediate future. It is not indicative of any future distribution of funds between research areas.

Table 1. Breakdown of expenditure (£) on Sugar Beet Research and Grower Support

          **Limited income is expected from investments and antibody sales.

The BBRO maintains a continuous review of all its programmes to ensure that it addresses anticipated shorter and longer-term economic and environmental issues. Currently, the balance between its grower support (technology transfer) programme, its strategic and its shorter-term projects needs to reflect the competition from sugar produced outside the UK . Competition for the small amount of available funds remains fierce and new work must be targeted on key research areas.

In Table 1 the 2011/12 column represents expenditure on projects continuing from 2010/11 and does not include costs of new projects to begin after April 2011; such projects have yet to be selected. Some projects have been grouped for ease of presentation.

Work costing approximately £432k is scheduled to end in March 2011. This includes a substantial programme on the monitoring and control of yellows viruses and their aphid vectors, physiology-based selection methods for drought-tolerant varieties, research on the greater delivery of potential yield including crown material at harvest, characterisation of varietal bolting propensity, and the small project on seed spacing and bed systems. It is likely therefore that there will be some restricted funding to support continued research in key areas e.g. crop protection, particularly where there are opportunities for collaboration in publicly sponsored programmes involving government departments and research councils. Such collaboration has been effective in the past, particularly with regard to BBSRC competitive mode funding in basic science. Contractors are encouraged also to seek additional funding from private industry provided that this does not compromise BBRO objectives or access to data. The BBRO will maintain its aim to move the emphasis of its programme towards reduction in the unit cost and improvement in the yield of the sugar beet crop although it is still recognised that due regard must be paid to the impact of beet production and processing on the environment including soils and water, biodiversity and carbon emissions. Proposers of new projects concerned with the improvement of sugar beet genotypes should have obtained an assured interest and financial contribution from seed houses or breeders. This is consistent with BBRO’s continuing policy for all new proposals to demonstrate an awareness of R&D elsewhere and to identify the deliverables and an agreed route through knowledge transfer to implementation. Authors of concept notes should indicate areas where there is complementarity with the new TSB programme on crop protection. These and other requirements outlined above should be borne in mind by authors of proposals for new projects to begin in April 2011.

Proposals will be considered for new work on:

• Innovative approaches to pest and disease control including the monitoring of sugar beet pathogens and their vectors, diagnostic techniques, establishing susceptibility of varieties to diseases occurring in commercial crops and root rots associated with late-lifted crops.

• Risk analysis to support strategies to address the development of resistance to fungicides and insecticides.

• Strategies for cropping on rhizomania-affected land.

• Innovative techniques to improve significantly the yield and cost-effectiveness of UK sugar beet production either through trials or desk studies on, for example:

• In-field variability in crop establishment including implications for X-beet
• In-ground storage and frost management
• Yield-potential of soil series
• Influence of field size on yield potential
• Crown waste
• Precision farming
• Opportunities in waste re-cycling in sugar beet production
• Extent of fungicide usage in relation to disease severity and delivery dates

Proposals addressing these priorities for research or desk studies should be submitted in the form of concept notes not exceeding two sides of A4 paper. Research proposals should indicate a clear route to exploitation within a well-defined time frame, and include realistic estimates of costs and benefits. Costs should not be inflated for later years. All collaborators should be specified. Concept notes concerned with the improvement of sugar beet genotypes should demonstrate a clear financial contribution from the seed/breeding industry.  Authors, before drafting concept notes, may find it helpful to avoid duplication of past research by reviewing briefly the list of past projects funded by the BBRO.  To view Click Here.

Notification of an intention to submit concept notes, including a list of concept note titles, should be sent to jean@bbro.co.uk by 5pm on Tuesday, 18^th May 2010.

The deadline for receipt of electronic copies of concept notes is 12 noon on Tuesday, 25^th May 2010.  An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent; hard copies of concept notes are not required.

Feedback will be provided by 30^th June.