The consortium behind Cereals in Practice has hailed this year’s event a big success.

The event is organised jointly by SCRI, SAC (Scottish Agricultural College) and SSCR (Scottish Society for Crop Research). It is the key day in the cereals industry calendar. Cereals in Practice is also supported by HGCA (Home Grown Cereals Authority).

The 2009 event was held for the first time at SCRI’s Balruddery Farm near Dundee with more than twice the number of visitors than in previous years including a large group from Sweden.

Dr Keith Dawson, SAC’s Principal Crops Consultant, who is also chairman of the SSCR Combinable and Energy Crops Sub-committee, said: “There was a tremendous amount of work done by all concerned to bring together the programme for the event.

“The whole aim of the work we do is to try to speed up the development of knowledge from the research lab through to the field and through on to the farm to benefit the consumer and the industry as a whole.”

Cereals in Practice marks the development of the growing close partnership in research and knowledge exchange between SCRI and SAC.

The event combines SCRI’s previous cereals event, Cereal Solutions, with SAC’s Central Cereals trials centre to create a must-attend event for anyone interested in cereal farming and associated industries.

It was also the first time that the SAC Central Cereal trials centre and SCRI’s own extensive trials had been sited together, giving growers and advisers an unrivalled breadth of field-based demonstrations, from fundamental research through to practical profitable application in the growing crop.

SCRI Director and Chief Executive, Professor Peter Gregory, said: “It has always been our intention to grow the event in size and we know that we have managed to more than double the attendance on previous years.

“SCRI is investing in new posts including field geneticists as part of our commitment to train a new generation of cereal breeders. We aim to ensure the success of cereals in Scotland and beyond, and we intend that, together with SAC and the SSCR, Cereals in Practice will grow into an unmissable event for those in northern Britain wanting to be abreast of the latest knowledge and practices.”

Notes to editors

SCRI is partly funded by the Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate of the Scottish Government. It is one of five Main Research Providers that undertake research on the Scottish Government programmes of research in the areas of environment, agriculture and biology. See also KnowledgeScotland.

More information from:

Phil Taylor, Head of Communications, SCRI, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA. Tel: 01382 560044 (direct line), Mobile: 07810 860 701.