An online meeting will give an update of an innovative project exploring the possibility of growing organic oilseed rape (canola) in Scotland.
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) is leading the Scottish Organic Canola (SCOCAN) project, which was awarded a £30,000 grant from the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund.
Led by Dr. Robin Walker, the project – which was highlighted on BBC Scotland’s ‘Landward’ programme – came out of a Rural Innovation Support Service fact-finding mission to Sweden, where approximately 10% of the oilseed rape area is grown organically.
With guidance from agronomist Andy Cheetham, from Ceres Agri Services, large plots of oilseed rape have been planted on five farms across the north-east of Scotland.
The virtual update by SRUC and Ceres Agri Services will include a visual tour of the demonstration plots on the farms collated during the last few months.
It will also present some of the mid-season data from across the five farms and discuss possible crop management options going forward.
The event will be held on Wednesday, June 24 using SRUC’s web-based teaching platform GoToMeeting. A recording of the event will be made available afterwards.
