Dr John Bradshaw, honorary fellow of SCRI, has been awarded the prestigious 2010 British Potato Industry Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to potato research and knowledge transfer.

Presenting the award at the Potato Council’s Seed Industry Event in Crieff, Perthshire, Potato Council chairman Allan Stevenson paid tribute to Dr Bradshaw’s work on potato breeding and genetics, including breeding strategies and methods in addition to the genetics of quantitative traits such as field resistance to late blight.

"He has the talent of knowing how to build communications between potato breeders and scientists, ensuring complicated research knowledge is translated into straightforward and practical messages that are easy to understand and put into practice," said Mr Stevenson.

"In addition, the two way communications he has built up have ensured that studies undertaken are relevant to the sector’s needs. The results of his research are invaluable and many of them have already been incorporated into commercial varieties.

"Furthermore, thanks to Dr Bradshaw, some costly and time-consuming field trials and disease assays in potato breeding should soon be replaced with simple, fast and accurate DNA assays," commented Mr Stevenson.

Dr Bradshaw has dedicated the last twenty years to potato research, in addition to writing and editing books on the subject. His most recent book is Root and Tuber Crops in the Handbook of Plant Breeding series, published by Springer, in which he also co-authored the chapter on potatoes.

Notes to editors

British Potato Industry Award committee is made up of Jim Godfrey, OBE, Lincolnshire farmer, former chairman of the International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru and former chairman of SCRI; David Walker OBE, Independent member and former chairman of Potato Council; Fraser Scott representing producers including co-operatives; Graham Finn, representing the processors industry; and Frank Pirie who due to the conflict of interest with Dr Bradshaw being nominated for the award stood in for Professor Peter Gregory, chief executive and institute director of the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI).

Dr John Bradshaw biography

Having studied genetics at the Universities of Cambridge (BA), Birmingham (MSc) and East Anglia (PhD), John Bradshaw spent his entire 33-year career at SPBS/SCRI (Scottish Plant Breeding Station, Scottish Crop Research Institute), working on barley, brassicas and potatoes. The last 20 years have been dedicated to potato breeding and genetics. In 2009 he retired as head of the potato breeding and genetics team and was made an honorary fellow of SCRI.

In 2004 he received a personal merit promotion at SCRI and in 2007 received the Dr James Hardie Memorial Award from the Pre Basic Growers’ Association. In 2008 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Potato Association. Throughout his career, he has been a member of EUCARPIA (European Association for Research on Plant Breeding) and served as Chairperson of the Potato Section from 2000 to 2009. In retirement he is serving as a member of the editorial board of Heredity, the journal of the Genetics Society of Great Britain, and is giving some lectures on Plant Breeding in the MRes course run by Dundee University and SCRI.

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