This week, at the Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) conference, our CTO Dr Cara Griffiths and Plant Biologist Dr Maria Oszvald (photo) launched our call for UK farmers to help shape the development of our wheat biostimulant.

About YEN

The YEN initiative, established by ADAS in 2012, connects forward-thinking farmers and innovative companies with a shared goal of improving farm productivity and performance.

By participating in a national competition, farmers receive detailed performance reports for new practices they test and can benchmark their results anonymously against other participants.

Farmers also gain access to expertise through newsletters and events, and this week’s conference was the YEN flagship event for knowledge exchange.

On-Farm Trials

“YEN provides an exceptional platform for connecting cutting-edge research with practical farming so we are delighted to work with ADAS to progress our R&D to on-farm testing”, adds Cara. “The work is funded by Innovate UK under a Large R&D Partnership aimed at demonstrating the efficacy and reliability of our wheat biostimulant across the UK.”

Dr Pete Berry, Head of Crop Physiology at ADAS, adds, “In this new project, we’re working with SugaROx to independently test their product. Data from on-farm trials will ensure the wheat biostimulant can be targeted at crop varieties and environments where it delivers the greatest benefits for farmers.”

Farmers interested in hosting a trial with SugaROx and ADAS are encouraged to complete this short form.

Farmer Survey

“To inform our research and development, we are also running a national survey with UK farmers,” adds Cara. The survey includes 27 questions designed to capture farmers’ experiences with existing biostimulants and explore unmet needs.

“Surveys like these are vital to ensure new products meet farmers’ requirements,” adds Pete. “Farmers’ responses will remain confidential, but as the project is publicly funded, we will share high-level messages through publications and events.”

Farmers can share their views on crop biostimulants by completing this questionnaire.

Our Innovation

Most biostimulants available today are extracts from algae or plants or acid-based formulations. These products are mixtures of ingredients, and tend to deliver modest yield gains of 2%-5% for farmers.

“We develop single-molecule formulations with active ingredients (AI) that mimic natural plant signaling molecules”, explains Cara. “Field trials have shown that our first AI, a patented, modified version of trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P), has the potential to boost wheat yields by up to 20%.”

Founded four years ago as a spin-out from Oxford University and Rothamsted Research, SugaROx is working to launch its T6P biostimulant in the coming years. “UK farmers have a pivotal role to play in helping us achieve this goal,” Cara concludes.

More information on our Large R&D Partnership is available here.