News
Rhizocore Leads Innovative Project to Tackle Agricultural Pollution with Fungi Bio-Filters
Rhizocore Technologies Ltd has secured a £1 million Defra grant to advance a fungi-based bio-filtration system designed to mitigate agricultural water pollution.
In collaboration with The James Hutton Institute, Harper Adams University, and Cheshire Wildlife Trust, this initiative aims to deliver scalable, nature-based solutions for improving water quality.
New vertical farm a first for Scottish education
SRUC has stepped up its commitment to global and local food production and security by becoming the first higher education institution in Scotland to open a commercial-sized vertical farm.
Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, officially opened the £1.8 million SRUC Vertical Farming Innovation Centre – which has received £200,000 from the Scottish Government – at the Edinburgh Campus of Scotland’s Rural College.
Veterinary diagnostics company opens new US lab
MI:RNA is accelerating its growth plans with the opening of a new laboratory in the United States.
The veterinary diagnostics company using cutting-edge technology and science to transform animal health diagnosis, and which originally spun out of SRUC, has secured $4 million in Series A funding.
Source: Business Insider
Swinney gives ‘cast-iron’ guarantee to return £46 million to farmers
The First Minister has given farmers a “cast-iron” guarantee to return £46m taken from the agriculture budget to combat the cost-of-living crisis.
The cash was taken in 2022 and 2023 as the country grappled with soaring costs and energy bills.
Source: Business Insider
Hutton hunts for soil ambassadors across Scotland to help dig deep
Scientists at The James Hutton Institute are leading a nationwide soil sampling campaign to help major European project, ECHO, to collect a total of 16,500 samples across Europe.
This call to participate in a citizen science project may be of interest to individuals in Midlothian Science Zone.
If you’d like to become involved as a soil ambassador, find out how you can participate here > https://echosoil.eu/become-an-echo-ambassador
Source: The James Hutton Institute
World’s first sustainability index for plants launched
AbacusBio has launched the world’s first Sustainability Index for plants, helping reduce the environmental impact of growing crops. This innovative tool enables breeding companies to create plant varieties that use less water, lower emissions, and optimize yield, health, and disease resistance.
New Agri research space for Roslin Innovation Centre
With a consistent demand for agriculture research space at Roslin Innovation Centre (RIC), and with a steady growth of existing tenant companies ‘in residence’, the RIC team explored options for additional space.
Partnering across continents to improve livelihoods
The work of scientists and farmers in Scotland to breed more productive dairy cows has paid off both at home and on the African continent – thanks to support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Green light for £3m GreenShed
A state-of-the-art shed which will use cattle waste products to power a methane capturing system and grow indoor crops has received nearly £3 million from the UK Government through its Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP).
AbacusBio and Bayer expand collaboration to additional crops and geographies
Following a successful year of collaboration, AbacusBio and Bayer have agreed to expand their partnership in the area of predictive plant breeding. This marks AbacusBio’s largest collaboration to date, which is anticipated to have a far-reaching impact along numerous crop supply chains.