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The extent of the UK’s innovative agri-food science expertise revealed in new Directory

The UK Agri-Food Science Directory 2008/09 was officially launched by the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor John Beddington on 4 November 2008 at the Inner Temple, London. The event, which was chaired by The Earl of Selborne, was attended by nearly 150 people, including ministers, research scientists, senior government and overseas embassy officials.

The Directory has been jointly produced by the International Agri-Technology Centre (IATC) and the UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS), in an initiative to raise the understanding and profile of the UK’s considerable national and international agri-food science expertise.

Building on the success of the Directory, which was originally produced by IATC in 2007, the partnership with UKCDS has enabled the scope and content of the directory to be expanded. The new Directory includes nearly 300 organisations with additional sections on food science, aquaculture and related environmental sciences, plus a focus on international development.

In his keynote address at the launch, Prof Beddington said, “At a time when a world food crisis is looming, with food demands outstripping our ability to produce it, the UK is in a privileged position with its world class science base, to play a leading role in providing scientific solutions to the challenges of global food security, sustainability and human health.

“The UK Agri-Food Science Directory clearly demonstrates that the UK has a world class science research and innovation base and offers an exciting opportunity to link UK institutions and scientists with overseas partners and contribute to solving the world’s food security problems,” he added.

Already innovative UK agri-food and aquaculture science are having an impact on solving global food production problems. One example is as a result of the immense demand for tomatoes in India. An UK project from the Natural Resources Institute, produced three unique virus resistant tomato varieties which were then used by seed companies to develop 54 virus-resistant tomato hybrids.

The resultant hybrids reduce the need for insecticides, whilst offering improved nutrition and have resulted in 12-fold increase in profits for over a million Indian farmers who are now growing them.

“Over the next twelve months, we will, in collaboration with IATC be looking to liaise with the scientific communities and other stakeholders, both in the UK and overseas, in order to see how we can further develop the directory,” explains Dr Andrée Carter. “We want to ensure that key information is readily available and accessible so that we can offer a resource which promotes and recognises the UK’s excellent agri-food science capability.”

To download a copy of the new directory please click here

To listen to the speeches from the launch, please click on the relevant person below (all recordings are mp3 files).

The Earl of Selborne	Professor John Beddington Government Chief Scientific Advisor
Professor Colin Dennis Director General, Campden BRI	Professor Douglas Kell CEO Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Susan Haird Deputy Chief Executive, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI)	Conclusion and Q&A Session

If you would like a hard copy of the Directory please contact the IATC direct:

International Agri-Technology Centre
Corner of Avenue J and 10th Street
Stoneleigh Park
Nr Coventry
Warwickshire
CV8 2LZ
UK

Telephone:+44 (0)8707 200285
Fax:+44 (0)8707 200285
Email: info@theiatc.org.uk
Website:www.theiatc.org

Audio of all of the speeches are available by either clicking on the speaker photo above or on the icon featured in the right hand column of this page.