Fera is pleased to announce that it has been named a finalist for the Potato Review's National Potato Industry Awards under the category of Innovation
Covering six categories, the awards offer a platform for growers, agronomists and suppliers to the industry to demonstrate a commitment to raising industry standards. The judges are looking for organisations that have made a significant contribution to the overall success of the potato industry.
After championing the Industry Innovation Award back in November 2019, this year’s submission focusses on the fantastic work that the in-house Nematology team have done to develop a new commercial test that can provide valuable management information on soil health and the wider cropping system.
The 'Nematodes as bio-indicators of Soil Health’ analysis uses Fera's expert identification capabilities to classify nematodes into functional groups that go beyond the traditional plant pathogenic species; including fungivores, bacterivores and predators.
The balance and structure of these functional groups in a soil sample can provide significant insight into the impact — and effectiveness — of management practices on soil health and help support decisions about cropping rotations, cover crop mixes and nutrient use.
In the first season of offering, Fera's Nematodes a bio-indicators of Soil Health analysis has provided insight into the effectiveness of nutrient regimes, highlighting the need for slower release fertiliser and has also informed the longer-term cover crop mix as part of a multi-year IPM strategy. The outputs from the analysis can also help to provide valuable information on soil biodiversity and ecosystem health, which can be used to evidence best practice and environmental stewardship.
In addition, Fera Science would like to congratulate A.H Worth & Co on its nomination as a finalist in the Environment category of the National Potato Industry Awards. The nomination highlights the commitment and progress made by A.H Worth & Co in their role as an Indicator and Innovation Farm in the M&S Farming with Nature programme within which Fera Science are a science delivery partner.
Award winners will be announced on the 24th of November at the 2021 National Potato Industry Awards in Harrogate, after the first day of the British Potato 2021 event. Fera is proud to be a finalist of the Awards and looks forward to joining the company of like-minded business from the potato industry.
Join Fera Science at the BP2021 event between 24th-25th November, located at stand 196, where Science leads from the nematology, entomology, virology, and remote sensing teams will be on hand to demonstrate their Potato expertise.
Fera Science will also be exhibiting at CropTec in Peterborough on stand 1.32 between 24th-25th November.
