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A recent BBSRC-sponsored knowledge transfer partnership between ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Crop Centre and Elsoms Seeds has enabled the breeding company to implement genetic marker technology, which could reduce the time to market for new parsnip varieties by up to 5 years.

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On Friday 12 August, BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme visited the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Crop Centre to find out about research to increase vegetable yields, and quality, in the face of increasing pressures on climate change and food security.

 The programme includes:

• Dr Rosemary Collier investigating sources of resistance to lettuce pests.
• Dr Charlotte Allender discussing the use of carrot diversity sets to look for useful traits such as disease resistance and tolerance to drought.
• Dr Graham Teakle examining nitrogen-use efficiency in oil seed rape.

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In an interview with ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s Knowledge Centre, Dr Rosemary Collier and Dr Graham Teakle discuss ways to increase the sustainability of crop production.

Research led by the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Crop Centre has developed a unique collection of information about the disease resistance of 96 of the world’s onion varieties. It will be a crucial resource for commercial growers and seed producers trying to combat one of the most difficult diseases affecting onion crops. This work may also have benefits in terms of and reduced fertiliser consumption and enhanced drought tolerance.

The work on onions in this research funded by Defra (The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is being carried out by .