News on Sustainability from United Kingdom

OF&G (Organic Farmers & Growers) has welcomed Defra’s development of the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 (SFI) and the flexibility the expanded remit offers to organic farmers.

Bredel hose pumps are contributing to a sustainable solution for steam potato peeling provided by TOMRA Food which reduces water usage, water treatment and food waste.

CNH Industrial and ONE SMART SPRAY, a joint venture between Bosch and BASF, have signed a collaboration agreement to integrate the latter’s advanced spraying system within CNH Industrial’s agricultural brand product portfolios.

From melting glaciers and flooding to drought, rising global temperature is affecting agriculture in many ways. Potato production is also taking a hit.

Leading UK potato supplier Greenvale AP Ltd has partnered with Trinity AgTech to roll out Trinity’s natural capital navigator, Sandy, to farms across the country, supporting them in credibly and confidently analysing and reaching their environmental targets.

Without phosphorus food cannot be produced, since all plants and animals need it to grow. Put simply: if there is no phosphorus, there is no life. As such, phosphorus-based fertilisers – it is the "P" in "NPK" fertiliser – have become critical to the global food system.

In the last six years, one of the UK’s leading potato growers has saved over GBP 300,000 (USD 330,000) through an unconventional but highly effective use of Stocks AG’s Rotor Meter.

An innovative method of controlling a range of damaging crop diseases using native, beneficial soil bacteria has emerged from a research-industry collaboration.

It’s clearly understood that improved farm productivity is good for business and more recently, for carbon footprint. But the challenge has always been how to measure the cost of producing a particular crop with regards to carbon.

A new practical guide to assessing soil carbon promises to answer British farmers’ key questions at a time when many are looking to understand their soil health. It was produced by Duchy College, Plymouth University, Rothamsted Research, and the Farm Carbon Toolkit.

Waitrose and Partners is set to be the first major retailer to sign up to The UK Robust Potato Pledge, which will see the group move away from the use of copper-based fungicides on organic fresh potatoes in order to combat late blight Phytophthora.

The home of the much-loved Pembrokeshire potato has added a new iconic product to supermarket shelves with the launch of the UK's first carbon-neutral potato.

There’s no escaping plant-based milk in the 21st century. In the United Kingdom, nearly a quarter of British people now consume plant-based milk. Entering into this market is a new plant-based milk, claiming to be the most sustainable dairy alternative yet: potato milk.

As part of today’s release of McCain’s 2020 Global Sustainability report Together, Towards Planet-Friendly Food, the company is pledging that it will be implementing regenerative agricultural practices across 100 per cent of its potato acreage by 2030.

British carbon capture and utilization company CCm Technologies has been awarded funding from Innovate UK to develop new modular Carbon Capture and Sequestration units.

One of the UK’s largest potato crisp manufacturers, Tyrrells, has taken its latest step in a continued sustainability drive by converting its energy supply to liquefied natural gas (LNG) which will reduce its carbon emissions by over 14% per year.

Planting a Green Headland on uncropped areas around potato and field vegetable crops can capture nutrients worth £200/ha over the growing season.

A move to cut down on food waste by selling unwashed potatoes – and in doing so potentially double their shelf-life - is being launched by Tesco.