Professor Ian Crute is to become the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)’s first chief scientist.

The AHDB has appointed Crute with the brief to deliver collaboration and co-operation across its £15 million annual investment of levy funds in research and knowledge transfer programmes. He takes up the post in early September and will be part of the senior executive team reporting to the AHDB chief executive.

Professor Crute is currently the director of Rothamsted Research with overall responsibility for all scientific, operational, commercial and external liaison activities of the institute, a positon he has held since 1999.

AHDB chairman John Bridge said: “I am delighted we have someone of Ian’s calibre and ability joining AHDB. R&D and knowledge transfer is the single biggest area of spend for AHDB. This appointment is critical in order to encourage cross-sector scientific connections and collaboration to the benefit of our levy payers and to agriculture and horticulture as a whole.

Crute said: “I am very excited at the prospect of joining AHDB. It is my conviction that AHDB and its six sector boards have the potential to play an increasingly influential role in orchestrating the way in which public and private funds are put to work to deliver the new science-based products, practices and policies which the agricultural and horticultural sectors require going forward.”

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