Trials officer and trainee agronomist at Procam, Jodie Littleford, has been awarded the esteemed Barrie Orme Shield for excelling in the BASIS certificate in Crop Protection.
Although a new entrant to the agricultural industry, Littleford secured a placement at Eurofins Agroscience as part of her biology degree at Cardiff University, and subsequently spent three years working in the crop trials department before taking on her current role at Procam, two years ago.
“I initially started the BASIS training in late 2019, because I really enjoy seeing how biological processes affect crops, and I wanted to better understand my research on new integrated approaches to crop husbandry,” she said.
The comprehensive course gave an excellent overview of everything involved in integrated crop management and part of the qualification involved carrying out a research task.
“My project involved looking into the plant health impact of mycorrhizal fungi on wheat varieties.”
Although Littleford initially started the BASIS training with her research role in mind, with the help of the knowledge gained during the course and time spent working more closely with Procam agronomists, she has been inspired to embark on a new career path and is now in the process of becoming a fully qualified agronomist.
“I certainly couldn’t have achieved this award without the excellent instruction and support from my expert trainer, James Christian-Ilett.,” she added.
He taught me in a way that made information really stick in my mind.”
Stephen Jacob, BASIS CEO, said he is delighted to see a new entrant to the agricultural industry showing such determination to excel in both her career and the BASIS examination, proving that hard work and extended learning truly does pay dividends.
