This project aims to use image and climatic data, collected by global satellites, to help improve estimates where pests and diseases of agriculture may spread. Changing climates mean that more areas globally are becoming suitable for pests and diseases of agriculture to establish in places that were previously climatically unsuitable. An increase in global trade and new trade pathways increases the risk of biological invasions by agricultural and environmental pests. Bioclimatic models can help those protecting our borders from non-native species to understand and better manage current and emerging pest risks. These bioclimatic models rely upon pest distribution data to infer climatic suitability. The spread of irrigation and protected agriculture (glasshouses and polyhouses) is distorting the relationship between pest distribution and climate suitability, allowing pests to spread to areas that would otherwise be unsuitable due to drought or cold stress. Consequently, models built using data that includes pest locations in these artificial environments substantially distort the projected pest risks. In this project we are developing spatial datasets of irrigation and protected agriculture, allowing bioclimatic modellers to estimate pest risks more accurately. Through this project a new research consortium has been formed of researchers from Australia and the UK.

Bioenergy crops have gained international prominence as fossil fuel prices increase and concerns about climate change grow. Increasing demand for bioenergy crops on international markets might lead to conflict with smallholder food production in the tropics and/or act as a driver of deforestation if large scale forest land conversions are initiated. Alternatively, smallholders might not jeopardise their own food security, and would grow bioenergy crops alongside food crops, incorporating their production into their current land use systems, increasing cash flow and thus permitting them to purchase inputs to intensify food production. The profitability, energy balance, social and ecological impacts will depend on the bioenergy crop used, how it is grown, with which inputs, on what type of land, what, if any, are the alternative uses of that land, and who reaps the benefit. So whether biofuel production is a threat or an opportunity will depend on the specific context. Jatropha curcas is a shrub, native to central America but is cultivated across the tropics. It is being promoted as a bioenergy crop as its seeds contain 20-30% oil, which can be easily extracted and converted to biodiesel. In Mexico, jatropha is traditionally used as a hedge. Large scale plantings were initiated in early 2006. By 2008, 20,000 ha were planted in Chiapas state and it is expected that 150,000 ha will be planted Veracruz state in the next two years. In India, large-scale land conversions to jatropha have been initiated, for example, more than 400,000 hectares of land in Uttar Pradesh state and the Indian government has proposed that biofuels account for 20% of its transportation fuel consumption by 2017, from the present 5%. Yet, despite these ambitious projects, little is known about its yield, pest and disease problems and environmental impact and so in which context it would be advisable to grow jatropha, rather than another bioenergy crop, such as Elaeis guineensis (oil palm). To some extent, ecological ranges of jatropha and oil palm overlap. In India, state governments of Orissa and Tamil Nadu are encouraging farmers to plant oil palm, given that India consumes an estimated 4.2 megatonnes per year. Similarly in Mexico, there are some large scale oil palm initiatives. This project aims to assess profitability, economic, social and environmental impacts of the production of two bioenergy crops, jatropha and oil palm. With data obtained it aims to identify the most suitable areas and conditions for sustainable and profitable yields and the extent of economic, social and environmental production risks. It aims to identify current shortfalls in land tenure systems or law and develop legislation to ensure social sustainability and equity of bioenergy projects.

This project, The UK Crop Microbiome Cryobank (UKCMCB) will establish a total resource of microorganisms and information associated with the microbiome of the UKs major crops. It brings together four leading institutions: Rothamsted Research, CABI, the James Hutton Institute and the John Innes Centre (in association with UEA). Each has a proven track record of working with industry, working at the forefront of pure and applied Agritech research. The plant microbiome mainly consists of fungi, bacteria and viruses that are associated with a plant and includes microbes that can be isolated and cultured and those that currently are currently not amenable to culture. Microbial consortia include members that help the plant host by providing nutrients, help prevent disease or allow a plant to tolerate environmental conditions. Driven by academic research and Agritech industry needs, it will provide a resource to underpin research on the Crop Microbiome, delivering sustainable solutions to improve plant health and crop productivity. The resource will facilitate better understanding of microbial community interactions, including the host plant and other components of the 'Phytobiome', and thereby impact plant health, from improvements in rhizosphere health through to control of biological threats. The resource will comprise: -A publicly available integrated Cryobank collection of samples (rhizoplane material -soils, bacterial and fungal isolates, plant material, and DNA) taken initially from 315 samples from systems significant to the UK Agritech sector. Initial focus will be on 6 crops (barley, oats, oil seed rape, potato, sugar beet and wheat ) from 9 different soil sites from across the UK. This will be supplemented with culturable material from the samples. Samples will be optimally preserved at ultra-low temperature using state-of-the-art technologies. -A curated AgMicrobiome Base of sample information with annotated sequences and meta-data for end-users. This will be the first synchronised resource covering the total microbiome of a variety of crops in identical soil types, supported by a bioinformatics resource, microbiologists, plant and crop health experts, with world class storage facilities. Provision of material will allow research into unexplored cultural biodiversity. - A further work package will be focussed on demonstrating the utility of the UK-CMCB for isolation of plant growth promoting bacteria and synthetic community construction. This will involve characterisation of the culturable microbiota associated with UK crop plants and the generation of crop-associated synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) and testing for positive plant growth traits. The microbes generated through this work package will be added to the CryoBank and made available to the public. The plant culture and microbial isolation work will take place at Rothamsted Research, biological resources will be held and curated in association with national collections at CABI, while JHI & Rothamsted will manage generation of functional data for the sequence resource. JIC in association with UEA will undertake the work on synthetic community construction. Samples will undergo microbial community profiling, and all microbial isolates will undergo phylogenetic characterisation and a subset of these will undergo full genome sequencing. All meta genomes and genomes will be deposited in a freely accessible database resource after sequence annotation, and provide a microbial genome resource for the research community This will result in the creation of a unique, world-leading combined resource of microbiome material, microorganisms, DNA and associated data useful for both academic and commercial research with potential for deployment in sustainable Agriculture

The project aims to bring together and produce cutting edge research to provide pest and disease monitoring and forecast information, integrating multi-source (Earth Observation (EO), meteorological and vertical looking radar) to support decision making in the sustainable management of insect pests and diseases. The project will explore the integration and fusion of new data sources from recently launched satellites with existing data products. This will overcome spatial and temporal differences to produce new data solutions and algorithms which are suitable for pest and disease monitoring and prediction, intervention efficacy forecasting and estimation of yield losses. The new data products and algorithms will be tested using two candidate systems: a fungal disease of wheat (stripe rust) and a serious insect pest (migratory locust). The corresponding efficacy of a biopesticide used to control the locust will also be explored, with the aim to investigate whether the same data inputs produced during this project can be utilised under a wide range of systems, leading to a greater impact of data assimilation in the future. Models will be validated in the laboratory and in the field to give a measure of certainty of predictions. Additionally, risk and loss estimation will be investigated using cutting edge EO techniques, and monitoring of locusts will be explored using Vertical Looking Radar, a technology which is capable of identifying the size and species of insect flying through a radar beam. In addition to building monitoring and forecasting systems with data assimilated during this project, routes to extend this information to appropriate end users will be explored to ensure maximum impact of technologies developed during the project. The project consortium will work closely with NATESC in China to ensure the system is built in a way that is compatible with existing methods of information dissemination. The project consortium is a strong multidisciplinary team with expertise in EO, vertical-looking radar technology and agricultural research and extension.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.