AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds is to invest in four new research initiatives to help reduce the industry’s reliance on conventional chemistry.

Recent feedback about investment priorities shows that integrated pest management (IPM) remains high up the farming agenda.

See also: AHDB looks to levy payers to submit arable research ideas

Here is an overview of the latest batch of projects arising from the new Research and Knowledge Transfer approach, where ideas are suggested by levy payers.

1. Biopesticides for winter wheat

This pilot will explore how to deliver independent evidence on the efficacy of biopesticides against major winter wheat diseases.

It will build on AHDB’s relationships with product manufacturers to secure access to key products – including those in development, so efficacy information can be released when they hit the market.

Later this year, AHDB will issue a research call that covers two years of winter wheat field trials (for harvests 2026 and 2027) to help determine the most effective way to develop efficacy data for biopesticides.

2. Crop physiology traits

The Recommended Lists (RL) for cereals and oilseeds already quantifies key varietal traits associated with yield, quality and agronomic features, but there is scope to capture more variety data.

For instance, in the recent RL review, hundreds of farmers requested crop physiology data, with traits associated with competitiveness frequently cited. Such information could be used to help select crops and varieties that compete better with grassweeds.

The new three-year project will build upon multiyear trials conducted by others in low-input (organic) systems. It will fund on-farm wheat variety evaluation trials.

3. Fusarium mycotoxins in oats

Fusarium head blight infection is associated with contamination of unprocessed oats with mycotoxins HT-2 and T-2.

Earlier this year, the EU revised the maximum levels (MLs) for these mycotoxins for grain traded in the EU, replacing indicative levels).

Revised MLs for Great Britain are being considered. Without suitable interventions, HT-2 and T-2 could cost the industry millions of pounds each year.

This autumn, the latest three-year project phase gets underway, which includes assessing the potential to develop a risk rating to guide variety selection.

4. Decision support for BYDV

AHDB is developing a tool to better predict aphid population in a project which concludes later this year.

The new tool has shown promise in field trials, providing control as good as or better than the current one, with fewer insecticide applications and yield benefits (where BYDV was present).

As the improved tool can indicate risk, it can also inform pre-sowing decisions (such as crop choice and drilling date).

With proof of concept established, the tool requires development work to produce a version that is openly accessible to farmers. Work will begin later this autumn.