51³Ô¹ÏÍø

The Agri Futures Lab (AFL) launched with an all-day conference exploring ways to get the most food, fibre and fuel out of next-generation farming.

, which is one of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s newest multidisciplinary , aims to tackle the challenge of providing food and fuel for a growing global population in a sustainable way.

The AFL connects researchers, commercial partners and policymakers to bring cutting-edge science and innovation to the agricultural sciences, from pest control and crop yield to tackling issues with food supply chains and spoilage.

Opening the day, Professor Alice Gast, President of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, said: “I think that it is very exciting and important that 51³Ô¹ÏÍø show its leadership in the highly multidisciplinary and urgent challenge of feeding the world’s population.”

The conference programme was filled with 23 talks from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø staff and partners, including Sainsbury’s, BASF, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Successful partnerships were showcased, such as investigations into the limits of plant production with , and producing sustainable agro-chemicals with .

Some 51³Ô¹ÏÍø spin-outs also discussed or displayed their inventions, including , a colour-changing spray for detecting bacterial contamination; , an early-warning system for plant pathogens; and , a handheld chemical analyser for water, soil, and more.

, Co-Director of the Agri Futures Lab with , said of the day: “It’s been great to have such a diverse audience, from all sectors of the agri sciences. It’s wonderful that there are people here demonstrating how collaborations are already working, and there are people looking to set up new partnerships.”

As well as encouraging collaboration and innovation through meetings, partnerships and hackathons, the AFL runs training for students, with new and a range of .