The UK produces 58% of its own vegetables which have an estimated economic value of £1.2 billion annually. Many of these are produced on the lowland fen peatlands within the East Anglia region. This is particularly the case for field-grown salad vegetables with these peatlands supplying the majority of salad vegetables to all the major UK supermarkets. While these soils are recognised as being super-productive, they are also highly susceptible to damage which is threatening their long term economic future. For example, the average rate of soil loss from a combination of wind erosion and microbial breakdown of the peat lies in the region 1-2 cm depth per year. It is also widely predicted that the rate of loss is likely to increase with climate change making it a fragile resource. Some of the more shallow peats have already been completely lost, while the deeper peats have a finite lifetime estimated to be in the region of 75-125 years unless something is done to reduce the rate of soil loss. The recent House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee report on Soil Health identified the loss of soil from cultivated peatlands as one of the greatest threats to soil security in the UK. In response to this, our project aims to work with the horticultural industry and other key organisations to investigate new ways to save these peatlands from further rapid degradation and a loss of natural capital. We will focus on trying to reduce both the biologically-mediated loss of soil carbon and also the physical wind erosional loss of soil. We hypothesise that active management of the water table at strategic times of the year (e.g. during winter when there is no crop in the ground) can be used to reduce microbial activity in the soil and reduce losses of peat in the form of CO2. However, this must be done in such a way that it doesn't increase the release of other greenhouse gases (CH4, N2O) or result in other negative impacts on productivity or on soil quality. In addition, using outdoor mesocosm trials, we will explore other potential synergistic strategies that may complement water table intervention as a soil conservation measure (e.g. use of nitrification inhibitors, cover crops etc). As our knowledge of the amount of soil lost by wind erosion remains poor, we will also use field monitoring and controlled wind tunnel experiments to get a better quantitative estimate of this loss pathway. This will allow growers to decide on whether to invest in protective technologies that might reduce erosional losses (e.g. soil physical binding agents, winter cover). While this project will generate lots of fundamental knowledge on peatland behaviour under different management scenarios, it is important that the research also recognises the socioeconomic context in which these agricultural systems operate. A key part of this project will therefore be to evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts of the alternative strategies and compare these against the business-as-usual scenario. To facilitate this, a stakeholder workshop at the start of the project with representatives from industry, environmental regulators and policymakers, local drainage boards and conservation bodies will be used to actively steer the project towards outcomes that are both practical, economically viable and provide the best environmental outcome. This will be complemented by a final engagement workshop towards the end of the project where the barriers to technology adoption are explored. This will lead to the production of a grower- and policy-orientated roadmap for future preservation of this fragile soil resource and will have a focus on balancing economic and environmental sustainability. Ultimately, the research simultaneously aims to protect this soil resource for generations to come whilst maintaining profitability, productivity, and UK government's desire for sustainable intensification, greater food security and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Cold atmospheric plasmas (CAPs) have been shown to have disinfectant properties in human and animal health systems, providing surface and sub-surface activity while leaving healthy tissue undamaged. Very recently, CAPs have been shown to reduce certain plant diseases, and to modify seed and seedling behaviour, altering seed coat properties and water uptake, resulting in improved seedling vigour and, in some cases, improved crop yield. Many horticultural crops are adversely affected by seed-borne diseases which are difficult to control with standard fungicidal products. In broad-acre arable crops, while seed-borne diseases can usually be effectively controlled, there are many establishment problems, primarily associated with lack of moisture, which result in either crop loss, or more usually sub-optimal plant populations, poor growth and lower final yields. This feasibility study will focus on understanding how CAPs could be used to condition seed and overcome some of these problems. Contrasting seed types and problems will be addressed, to include a) control of seed-borne disease in small seeded vegetables (celery, onion, lettuce) b) promotion of germination and vigour in large seeded (maize) and small seeded (oilseed rape) field crops, and evaluation of crop performance. The feasibility study will inform the potential for a novel, easy to use, non-chemical technique for improving crop performance, and create a commercial opportunity for the development of safe and effective plasma generating units.

Minimal processing adds significant value to fresh produce, however, it also increases its perishability reducing shelf life and leading to waste of the produce and the resources used to grow it. This project is aimed at post harvest discolouration, a significant cause of quality loss in a wide range of fresh produce such as sliced apple, cut cabbage and lettuce. The main issue we are addressing is postharvest discolouration of lettuce in salad packs. UK lettuce production/imports are worth £240m farm gate but the retail value of UK processed salads is £800m. However, Tesco have recently reported that 68% of their salads are thrown away; the situation is similar for other retailers. There is therefore a need to improve postharvest quality to reduce waste and deliver consistently good quality products to consumers. Modified atmosphere packaging can provide control but once the pack is opened oxygen enters resulting in discolouration. Growing conditions also influence postharvest discolouration but are difficult to control in field crops. We are proposing breeding lettuce varieties with reduced propensity to discolour as a way to address the problem. To do this we need to understand the genetics and biochemistry of discolouration. We are building on previous research we have done which identified genetic factors controlling the amount of pinking and/or browning that developed on lettuce leaves in salad packs 3 days after processing. However, we do not know what compounds or which genes are involved and we now intend to find this out by a multidisciplinary project involving three universities; Harper Adams University, Reading and Warwick, a lettuce breeding company, a lettuce grower, a salads processor and the Horticulture Development Company. We have produced a set of experimental lettuce lines which we know show differences in the amount of pink or brown discolouration they produce. We will grow and process these lettuces in a way that mimics commercial production. We will then assess the salad packs for the amount of discolouration developing over 3 days, which is the current best before date for supermarket salads. We can then link this information to the plant's DNA profile to identify genetic factors for discolouration and DNA markers which can be used by plant breeders. The same lettuces will also be analysed for compounds produced by a biochemical pathway called the phenylpropanoid pathway. This is thought to produce the pigments that cause discolouration. We know from other studies in a plant called Arabidopsis the genes which control the phenylpropanoid pathway and we have found the same genes in lettuce. We will see how these genes behave in lettuce plants that produce a lot of discolouration and ones that don't discolour. We will also see how the genes behave under different growing conditions. We can link these gene expression patterns to the amount of pinking and browning to see which genes are the key ones. Once we have done this we can look for naturally occurring versions of the genes which give a reduced discolouration. The compounds produced by the phenylpropanoid pathway influence other things such as pest and disease resistance, taste etc. We do not want to reduce the amount of discolouration by breeding but end up with lettuce susceptible to pests or with poor taste, so we will assess lines which show high discolouration or no discolouration for their resistance to aphids and mildew and for taste to see if there are any differences. There are some compounds produced by the pathway which are colourless but still provide some resistance so by knowing the genetics and biochemistry breeders will be able to carry out smart breeding. We will see if the results for lettuce hold true for other crops by seeing how the key genes behave in apple and cabbage and whether this is related to the amount of browning that develops when they are processed and look for genetic differences in these crops

Nature-based solutions (NbS*) are responses to societal challenges that involve working with nature to deliver benefits for both people and biodiversity. They include protecting existing ecosystems, restoring degraded ecosystems and managing working lands more sustainably. NbS are of national strategic importance in supporting the UK's net zero climate targets and the Government's ambition to improve the environment within a generation. They have gained international significance too: 131 countries include NbS in their UNFCCC climate change pledges. If well designed and robustly implemented, NbS will deliver multiple benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation, enhance biodiversity, promote human wellbeing and support economic recovery. The challenge is that the implementation of NbS is often piecemeal, narrow in focus, and undermined by weak research/policy/practice connections. UCam-Regen will redress this problem by applying its breadth of expertise in a practically driven analysis that provides the knowledge and tools needed to address several challenges facing the delivery of NbS: NbS can contribute significantly to achieving net zero emissions, although the extent of that contribution is limited by the finite amount of land available and critically by the effects of climate change on ecosystems. NbS are not an alternative to decarbonising the economy and must be accompanied by swift, deep emissions cuts; they must be designed with and for local communities; and they must deliver measurable benefits for biodiversity and be designed to be resilient to climate change i.e. a 'whole systems approach' must be applied - as in UCam-Regen - that integrates economies, societies, and nature. Scaling up, restoration and protection of key ecosystems across UK landscapes requires (a) better protection of natural habitats in the planning system; (b) reforming agriculture and forestry subsidies to better support actions that benefit both climate regulation and biodiversity; (c) connecting habitats across landscapes, building on the emerging Nature Recovery Networks; (d) making it compulsory to build an NbS framework into all new developments, and (e) making space on land for natural systems to adapt to climate change. There is a need to develop robust metrics to assess the effectiveness of a wide range of NbS for carbon sequestration, water regulation, biodiversity and human wellbeing. Well-designed new financing mechanisms, including tax incentives and public subsidies for ecosystem stewardship that meet the NbS guidelines and support climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and biodiversity, could be instrumental for upscaling NbS and improving social-ecological resilience to climate change, both in the UK and globally. UCam-Regen addresses these challenges by applying a whole systems approach to deliver knowledge and tools necessary to regenerate UK landscapes using NbS approaches. At the heart of the proposal is a recognition that local communities must be engaged with decisions regarding their landscape's future and co-produce solutions, informed by scientific assessments of the optimal landscape management approaches to maximise the delivery of ecosystem services. *We take policy recommendation and definitions from a COP26 Universities Network Briefing led by Prof Coomes https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_790171_smxx.pdf