This event took place on Tuesday 21 January 2020.

With rising populations and increase consumer demand on resources, the agriculture industry faces challenges from all sides to be productive, maximise profits, meet supply demands, while balancing the environmental impacts.
Human health is intrinsically tied to the food system, directly through what we consume and indirectly through its contribution to climate change and degradation of resources.
How can farming ensure food security, and become part of the climate change solution while benefiting the local economy?
The Sustainable Earth Institute presents a look at society’s relationship with plants, the need to rethink the food system, how technology can help farming be more sustainable, and the onus on consumers to drive change through choices.
Fixing attention on the dialogue between researchers and industry, the event will profile the challenges faced by the agriculture sector and others along the supply change, and highlight both the current research at the University that address these challenges, and the opportunities for future collaboration and funding that could close the knowledge gaps.


Programme


09:00 | Arrival and networking
09:15 | Welcome introduction by Professor Jerry Roberts , Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise)
09:30 | Research and industry showcase - how Agri-Tech has supported collaborations that impact on research and business growth
  • 'Plant Factory - how controlled growing environments for plants can help treat disease such as cancers' by Professor Mick Fuller and Dr Lynn McCallum, Cornish Essential Oils
  • 'Fluorescent imaging for nutrition and disease - the early detection of disease in plants' by Dr George Littlejohn and farming technology company Ginium
  • 'Speciality crops - the skin healing properties of coastal plants and seaweeds' by Professor Bing Hu and Cornish Seaweed Company
11:15 | Break11:30 | Research and industry showcase
  • FAB soil and soil carbon by Professor Mark Fitzsimons and Dr Kate Schofield
  • Soil metrics and sensing by Dr Tim Daley and Robotriks
  • Funding opportunities for Agrifood projects and KTN partnerships
Who is this event for?
This event will of most relevance to researchers interested in improving farming practices, and those in health such as clinical researchers, nurses, dieticians and GPS; statistics and computing researchers; and those working with technology that could have agricultural applications.
 

Sustainable Earth Institute

We bring researchers together with businesses, community groups and individuals to develop cutting-edge research and innovative approaches that build resilience to global challenges. 

We link diverse research areas across the University including science, engineering, arts, humanities, health and business.

Find out more about the Sustainable Earth Institute.

Baobab tree in Madagascar

Agri-Tech Cornwall

The United Nations has set a target to double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, and ensure food production systems are sustainable by implementing resilient agricultural practices by 2030.

The Agri-Tech Cornwall project is a step towards achieving these targets.

Find out more about the project

Robot arm picking cauliflowers

Derriford Research Facility (DRF)

Opened by HRH The Princess Royal, the DRF is the state-of-the-art headquarters of the University of Plymouth’s Institute of Translational and Stratified Medicine (ITSMed).
Home to ITSMed's world-class clinical and biomedical research and our internationally renowned Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence.
Derriford Research Facility
 

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