A new centre for crop science has won over £30 million in funding to help apply research into benefits for growers, processors and consumers.
The Cambridge Centre for Crop Science, known as 3CS, will be run in partnership with NIAB and has secured the funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (£16.9m), and the NIAB Trust (£14.5m).
It will build on Cambridge University’s existing research initiatives on global food security with particular focus on research impact.
“3CS innovations will generate new crops and new ways of growing crops for food, fuels, industrial feedstocks and pharmaceuticals,” said project leader Professor David Baulcombe.
“We envisage that new 3CS crop technologies will enable higher crop yields and lower environmental impact for crop-based food production – as well as contributing to improved dietary health.”
NIAB CEO Tina Barsby said: “The delivery of both public goods and economic growth is an essential agenda for today’s plant scientists, with the need to produce sufficient healthy nutritious food without harming the environment being at the top of the international agenda.
“Creating the facilities to bring together NIAB and the University in 3CS presents an extraordinary opportunity for impacting this agenda through the development of world-class science and translation.”
3CS will be housed in a state-of-the-art research laboratory at NIAB’s Cambridge site, where it will be led by a newly-appointed professor of crop science. Research will be done by scientists from various Cambridge University departments, the Sainsbury Laboratory and other UK research institutes.
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