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← BSPP Presidential Meeting 2016
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Grand Challenges in Plant Pathology Interdisciplinary Study Group

Posted on September 18, 2016 by Oliver Ellingham

This weeks BSPP conference was followed by the first ever BSPP study group. Attended mainly by PhD students, the14393977_10155216107042678_2032437558_o three-day workshop intended to address challenging plant pathology issues the world must act on in order to make the most of current and future technologies to optimise agronomic outputs and feed an ever-growing population with sufficient nutrients.

We were joined by various experts from industry, academia, and education. Each aimed to enlighten us further through their own experiences.

The students were set five ‘Grand Challenges’ and given 48 hours to research and deliver solutions to these. The challenges were:

  • Integration of information and samples for growers and Syngenta’s benefit. (Set by Syngenta) This aimed to speed up the process of feeding back information after receiving data from farmers to boost efficiency of application of fungicides with different modes of action at appropriate times.
  • Working with Lucy on how to limit plant diseases entering the UK.

    Working with Lucy on how to limit plant diseases entering the UK.

    Management practices for many of the key crop pests (sensu lato) are known but farmers/producers do not use these approaches. How can this be addressed in the future? (Set by CABI) This was a case of education; employing local communicators to help local farmers break out of their tried and tested techniques in order to take on new techniques. Local trial plots to show off good practices and new resistant cultivars were necessary in order to boost productivity where it is needed most.

  • Assessing the risk posed by novel pathogens. (Set by FERA Science Ltd.) How do we know which new pathogens now identified regularly through deep sequencing methods will cause our plants problems?
  • Indoor vs. outdoor disease development. (Set by Syngenta) Trials of new cultivars and growing methods are regularly carried out in greenhouse conditions and not the true field environment due to cost. However results seen in greenhouses are often not mirrored in the field. The issue was therefore of how to  replicate field conditions best. Use of meteorological information to directly alter the greenhouse climate was a strong idea.
  • Promoting British Growers is a great way to limit plant diseases entering the country.

    Promoting British Growers is a great way to limit plant diseases entering the country.

    How do we stem the tide of plant diseases entering and establishing in the UK? (Set by APHA) I choose to work on this issue. Lucy Carson-Taylor of APHA shared with us her wealth of knowledge surrounding the issue and we came up with a whole host of solutions. Focusing these ideas was the real challenge as we discounted changes in governmental policy and instead went for more acheivelble aims. Once again, education was key; the current laws on movement of natural products between countries are complicated and often overlooked. Therefore making people aware of disease they could be spreading in plants brought back from abroad was key. On top of this we proposed a plant barcoding scheme to track those traded across borders in order to be able to trace discovered pathogens to their source; allowing a more complete picture of how to deal with the problem and potentially sanctioning the source. Finally, promoting British growers would reduce the need for such trade. Therefore a promotion of all things British would also be a positive step.

14397296_10155216106687678_1748857615_n

Balliol College for dinner with new friends.

Cherwell Boathouse for dinner.

Cherwell Boathouse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The workshop was punctuated with evening meals in Balliol College and Cherwell Boathouse and a keynote lecture from Oxitec. All in all this was a great experience and great opportunity to meet and work with like-minded people; both students and those practicing our science in industry and government.

Oxford's historic colleges and architecture were a pleasure to explore.

Oxford’s historic colleges and architecture were a pleasure to explore.

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About Oliver Ellingham

PhD student at the University of Reading. Working on ID techniques of powdery mildew Fungi. Interested in mycology, plant pathology and arboriculture.
View all posts by Oliver Ellingham →
This entry was posted in PhD research, Public Engagement with Science, RHS research, Uncategorized and tagged #PowderyM, 2016, British Society for Plant Pathology, BSPP, Doctoral Training Programme, Grand Challenges, Interdisciplinary, Oli Ellingham, Oliver Ellingham, Study Group, University of Oxford. Bookmark the permalink.
← BSPP Presidential Meeting 2016
RHS John MacLeod Lecture & Marsh Christian Trust Award →
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Last reply was March 30, 2017
  1. BSPP Presidential Meeting 2016 | Culham Research Group
    View September 18, 2016

    […] Pathology hosted their annual two-day Presidential Meeting. For the remainder of the week their Interdisciplinary Study Group: Grand Challenges in Plant Pathology kept me […]

    Reply
  2. PhD Conferences 2013-2017 | Culham Research Group
    View March 30, 2017

    […] conference was coupled with the Grand Challenges in Plant Pathology Interdisciplinary Study Group. This was a great couple of days in which we interacted with like-minded young researchers and […]

    Reply
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