A new £1.8m award is set to help UK scientists and industrial partners work on solutions to tackle cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB).
Crop losses to the beetle in the UK were estimated at 6.4 percent in 2016 to 2017 rising to 15 percent in some counties.
The pest is increasingly problematic since the withdrawal of neonicotinoid-based pesticides which were previously used as seed treatments to control the beetle.
The escalation has led to questions over the future of the UK oilseed rape crop, with a decline in UK cropping area of 35% between 2012 and 2019.
This research-industry partnership, led by the John Innes Centre, is implementing an integrated pest management (IPM) approach.
Key to this is the use of pest resistant cultivars of the crop, but none are currently available.
This project will enable researchers to identify genetic markers – landmarks in the crop genome – which will guide breeders in developing resistant varieties of oilseed rape that are less palatable to the beetle.
Further research into the lifecycle and feeding preferences of the beetle is being carried out by the entomology team and two post-graduate researchers at the John Innes Centre where the first in-house breeding population of the pest was established.
Dr Rachel Wells, principal investigator of the successful bidding team, said: “This is fantastic news, and it means we can accelerate vital work in combating this significant pest.”
Dr Wells, who is the manager for the BBSRC SLoLa Brassica and Rapeseed And Vegetable Optimisation (BRAVO) project, added: “The success of the bid has been made possible with the support of a strong network of industrial partners which we have built over time.
"Through this partnership approach we are addressing an important problem for industry, turning scientific discovery into solutions in the field.”
Dr Wells will be working with the group of John Innes Centre colleague Professor Steve Penfield who is a co-investigator in the project.
IPAs encourage and support collaboration between academic research groups and industry. They are academic-led grants that have significant industrial involvement and industry partner(s) contribute in cash at least equivalent to 10% of the full project costs.
Industrial partners participating in this research include seven crop breeding companies: DSV, KWS, Limagrain, Bayer, Elsoms, RAGT and LS Plant Breeding, and AHDB.
