The Research Projects that won the 2022 Brian Chambers Award

This webinar will comprise presentations by each of the winner and two runners up of the 2022 Brian Chambers International Award for Early Career Researchers in Crop Nutrition about their research, followed by a question and answer session. These three presentations are described below.

How fertiliser application and specific genetic variants combine to impact on the acrylamide forming potential of wheat

Joe Oddy, Rothamsted Research, UK

This research looked at how fertiliser application and specific genetic variants combine to impact on the potentially harmful acrylamide forming potential of soft wheat. Adding sulphur fertiliser helps to reduce grain asparagine content (which is the key precursor to acrylamide). This research indicated that a N : S application rate of 10 to 1 (kg/ha) was sufficient to prevent large increases in asparagine.

The effects of the application of Zn-enriched fertilizer in improving the grain nutritional quality of maize

Lester Botoman, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), Malawi

This research sought to establish the quantitative effects of the application of Zn-enriched fertiliser in improving the grain nutritional quality of maize. It found that the use of such fertiliser does increase the Zn content of the maize grains, and that this was to an extent that would have a substantial effect on the dietary intake of people in the area. This work now needs to be extended to cover more of the soil types that occur in Malawi.

Management of multispecies swards with reduced N compared to high N grass monocultures

Shona Baker, University College Dublin, Ireland

The key finding from this research was that a rotationally grazed  multi-species sward (containing six species) produced more grass over a two year period than did a perennial ryegrass monoculture, whilst receiving half of much nitrogenous fertiliser. A key research need now is to investigate how to best manage such multi-species swards over a longer time period.

BASIS FACTS CPD PN points for this webinar will be applied for.