NIAB, the UK’s leading plant bio-science company, has said farewell to its ceo, Professor Brian Legg. After six years steering NIAB safely through turbulent changes in the agri-industry, he is retiring at the end of March.
“Prof Legg helped transform NIAB from a government-funded research institute to a leaner and more efficient private sector organisation competing with other commercial organisations for government research funding and for the testing and verification of plant varieties,” said a statement.
Legg’s legacy will be the successful transformation of NIAB into a commercially vibrant competitor in the agricultural marketplace. NIAB is still at the leading edge of plant bio-science in the UK and is a major player in Europe.
Legg joined NIAB in 1999 from the Silsoe Research Insititute in Bedfordshire, where he had been CEO for nine years. Under his leadership, Silsoe pioneered work on crop sprayers; the use of automation and robotics in agriculture, particularly in the milking of cows; new methods of treating farm slurry and waste and conducted research into animal welfare.
His arrival coincided with the start of the race was on to maintain leading edge research at a price that a financially-strapped industry could afford. The research and testing of new and improved plant varieties is the traditional backbone of NIAB and this is now conducted alongside molecular and DNA-driven solutions to help the industry deliver better products more quickly to the market.
Legg plans to continue contributing to plant science. He will remain a member of the board at Rothamsted Research. Another role will be to review the quality of plant science in Government departments. He said: “Plants are the foundation on which all life depends. Learning how to utilise them is vitally important if we are to increase world food production while still conserving natural ecosystems and the huge diversity of wild plants.
“NIAB has been a hothouse of world-beating plant science since it was set up in 1919. The technology has changed, but the commitment to delivering more productive, disease-resistant, varieties has not changed. NIAB is packed full of internationally recognised plant experts and it has been a privilege to have worked alongside them for six years.”
Wayne Powell, who has taken over as NIAB ceo, said: “I am indebted to Prof Legg for leaving me with a company that is in such good shape financially and academically. I look forward to building on his successes.”
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