The AHDB Potatoes Board in the UK has been considering the long term future and succession plan for potato storage research in Britain.
In a news report issued today, AHDB says the following:
The board wants to ensure that we have continued access to the best people and ideas to deliver what the industry needs.
We have recently concluded a process of market engagement with agri-science research institutions. The exercise has shown that there are a number of organisations interested in playing a more active role in storage research in the future.
There will now be a number of research tenders launched on the open market.
Depending on the quality of tender responses we receive, this summer will see storage experiments taking place at external research institutes alongside activity at Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research (SBCSR).
We plan to monitor the performance carefully so that, over a period of time, we can begin to move to a new model where storage research is commissioned rather than completed in-house. We plan for this to happen in a staged way and AHDB will continue to deliver storage research findings, resources and advice to the industry in the long term.
The team at Sutton Bridge have been informed of the Board
