To maintain and increase competitiveness in these sectors with improved barley varieties that continually outperform their predecessors is vital, which is why the Association Genetics of UK Elite Barley (AGOUEB) project was developed and funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Defra and Scottish Government through the Sustainable Arable LINK programme. 

Professor Robbie Waugh, project leader from SCRI, explains: "AGOUEB is testimony to the value of having a longer-term vision and investment in crop science.

"By developing and using this new technology we have gained a much better understanding of what combinations of genes are required to make a good UK barley variety and we are working with the breeding community to improve economically important characteristics such as yield and resistance to pests and disease."

The Germinate AGOUEB database became available in September 2008. Dr Waugh has won four competitive research contracts worth over £3m to extend the work on the underlying genetic mechanisms that control yield, quailty and environmental sustainability of the crop. This funding enables the team to employ five additional scientists for the next 4 years.

Practical advice for cereal growers facing real challenges was available on the SAC demonstration sites and stands at this event.

According to the Head of SAC Consulting (right) Jonathan Cowens, “Scottish farmers face the same challenge today as they will tomorrow. They must maximise the yields of the crops and varieties demanded by the market in a way that is both economically and environmentally sustainable. Cereals in Practice offers farmers solutions in new candidate varieties in spring barley, winter barley and winter wheat.”