Black Grass Initiative

A £2.8m research initiative into Black-Grass management will be officially launched at Cereals in June.  The ‘Black-Grass Project’ will be co-funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA), with Newcastle University, the University of Sheffield, Rothamsted Research, University of Reading, University of Edinburgh and the University of York partnering the project.

Key to the project will be a farmer survey which UK growers will be asked to contribute to, together with providing Black-Grass samples.  Growers will be able to attend forums to discuss management.  It is hoped the research will also increase the understanding of the evolution of resistance to herbicides and to help to develop tools to detect resistance in the field at an early stage before it becomes established.  With Black-Grass becoming a problem on more and more farms growers will no doubt welcome this research. To find out how to get involved e-mail [email protected]