A plant scientist has said that climate change will impact the future yield potential of cereal crops.
According to Adam Gauley, from the Agri-Food and Biosciences’ Institute (AFBI), shorter, warmer summers will restrict grain fill periods.
“And we are already starting to see this happen. One of the reasons why cereal yields in Ireland are so much higher than those recorded in other parts of the world is because of our longer, cooler summers,” he explained.
“In turn, this encourages a longer grain fill period. However, these patterns may change significantly in the wake of changes to the climate.”
Gauley is also working on the development of new perennial grass varieties, which will be more resilient to the threat of climate change.
Grass varieties and climate change
A specific objective of AFBI’s research on the project is to identify ryegrass with combined improvements for root and shoot traits known to be linked to nutrient use efficiency, resilience to climate change and productivity.
Advanced genomic and 3D root imaging techniques will be applied to identify associations between variant root/shoot characteristics in ryegrass and identify candidate varieties to take forward for use on farm.
The research scientist confirmed that the use of molecular techniques will help identify genomic variations, known as SNPs, that confer to root traits.
In turn, this will enable the identification of germplasm that will cope better with increasingly difficult growing conditions – drought and water logging.
AFBI
These were just two of the subjects profiled by Adam and other AFBI representatives attending the inaugural Agri, Food and Life Sciences Careers Fair, hosted by Queen’s University Belfast.
AFBI is a leading provider of scientific research and services to government, non-governmental organisations and commercial bodies.
The organisation is sponsored by its key stakeholder, the Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
AFBI’s customers include a range of local, national and international commercial companies, Northern Ireland and UK departments, agencies and associated bodies in the European Union.
Adam Gauley continued:
“Our aim in attending the careers fair was to encourage students to look at the post-graduate study and research opportunities on offer from AFBI at the present time.”
The event was hosted by Queen’s School of Biological Sciences.
School manager, Siobhan Fitzsimmons, commented: “The careers fair was a tremendous success. We had a significant number of organisations taking part, all playing a key role within the agri-food space.
“Our aim is to build on this for the future.”
