Nearly £1.5 million has been set aside by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) to safeguard product quality and boost farm productivity.
The pot of cash, announced today, will give 19 three to four-year PhD projects funding as part of the new-look studentship programme run by AHDB to grow new industry talent and deliver science with practical industry benefits – a call made to the industry by government in its recently launched Agri-Tech Strategy.
The programme also forms part of AHDB’s commitment to skills made under the industry’s AgriSkills Strategy – Professionalism in Agriculture – launched in London a fortnight ago.
Newly harmonised to cover all agricultural and horticultural sectors, this latest AHDB initiative has brought together the different sector studentship programmes previously run independently by the levy board’s six divisions.
A spokesperson said: 'The programme has reinforced the search for good science that gives the industry not only the necessary knowledge and information, but also the training it needs for the next generation of scientists if it’s to meet the growing demands and sustainability challenges of the 21st century.'
Included in the programme’s first wave of studentships - starting in 2014 - are a number of studies focused on crop protection and improving plant quality.
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