Grapevines can be affected by one or more GTDs at the same time, for example two of the common diseases on young vines (less than five years old) known as Petri Disease and Black foot can both result in overall stunting, delayed bud break, shortened internodes, yellowing or chlorotic foliage with brown or necrotic margins and wilting of leaves or entire shoots. Read more

During July and August 2020 UK plant health authorities became aware through social media of members of the public in the UK receiving packets of seed which had not been ordered by them. Read more

At the outset of Covid, panic food buying saw our vegetable shelves emptied sending many of us to our local garden centres to buy seed. A combination of ‘Digging for Britain’ and the Good life. The lockdown then closed our garden centres and seed, as with all things, mostly became available to the public via the internet. Overnight, as UK garden centres and supply chains endeavoured to make themselves accessible to their customers online, the UK public awoke to the fact that they could browse and purchase online seed, even plants, from a myriad of alternative suppliers across the world. Read more

Montserrat is a UK Overseas Territory in the eastern Caribbean. It is nicknamed "The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean" both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants. Read more

Since joining Fera Science as Senior Plant Bacteriologist at the beginning of November, Dr Joana Vicente has been managing and working towards delivering a range of R&D projects on plant pathogenic bacteria and soil biological diversity. Read more

The UKOTs support a diverse range of unique ecosystems and habitats that sustain many rare and threatened plant and animal species. These are highly vulnerable to the introduction of invasive alien species Read more

A research paper has been published which estimates that ash dieback is set to cost the UK £15 billion and is expected to kill 95-99% of ash trees in Britain. Read more

This project aimed to bring together experts from research organisations and companies to share knowledge on remote sensing applications in the plant health sector Read more

Observatree launched in spring 2014 aiming to train volunteers to help protect the UK’s trees, woods and forests from harmful pests and diseases, both existing and new. Read more

Wednesday 05 December 2018 – Today, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Right Honourable Lord Henley, announces funding for a major bacterial plant diseases research programme supported by UK Research and Innovation’s Strategic Priorities Fund. Read more