The competition was strong at this year’s National Potato Industry Awards with a large number of finalists being shortlisted for the environmental category. We would like to congratulate A.H. Worth Limited, the deserving winners of the category, along with the other finalists.
Fera’s submission for this year’s award focussed 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.”
Fera Science would like to congratulate Simon Day at A.H. Worth Limited for winning the National Potato Industry Awards under the #Environment category this year, celebrating 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.
Fera would like to thank the other organisations who are involved in this award-winning project including Marks & Spencer Food, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Manor Fresh Ltd and Sustainable Soil Management Limited. We were pleased to host colleagues from A.H. Worth and Manor Fresh Ltd. at our table for the lively awards dinner- an exciting night of meeting likeminded individuals- each with a passion for working towards a sustainable future across agriculture and food production.
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