The James Hutton Institute opened today to form a powerhouse for research into food, land use and climate change.

The venture starts with a five-year £100 million funding programme from the Scottish government and represents the merger of the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) and the Macaulay Land Use Institute.

The new organisation will operate from the two existing sites in Invergowrie and Aberdeen and will employ more than 600 scientists and support staff, making it one of the biggest research centres in the UK and the first of its kind in Europe.

Chief executive Professor Iain Gordon said: “We are building on the international reputation of the two fantastic organisations that have come together, each with their own focus. Our aim is to pool the skills and expertise we have across the board, from providing support for industry and policy to more efficient use of land and natural resources.

“As a large research organisation, we will be getting ourselves into political arenas where agendas are set both in the UK and outside to see what we should be doing to support the rural sector more broadly and demonstrate the value that research brings to the economy.”

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