Barley research making the headlines

"Given the importance of barley for our economy we anticipate more interest from the brewing, distilling and food industries, as well as the agricultural sector and the general public

As the world’s fourth most important cereal crop and the UK’s second largest, grown on about half of Scotland’s arable land, barley is sure to get the attention of researchers, growers and industry. This time it also caught the eye of a BBC Scotland news team. Ken Macdonald, Science Correspondent, visited the James Hutton Institute to learn more about research on barley and the Barley Innovation Centre initiative, and produced a report that was aired on BBC One Scotland and BBC Radio Scotland.

Professor Robbie Waugh, Dr Joanne Russell and Dr Kelly Houston from the Cell and Molecular Sciences group provided an overview of our research on barley, while Professor Iain Gordon, Chief Executive, offered insight into plans for a Barley Innovation Centre in Invergowrie. Filming took place over two days at labs and glasshouses of our Invergowrie site.

You can watch the report on the BBC News website. 

Given the importance of barley for our economy we anticipate more interest from the brewing, distilling and food industries, as well as the agricultural sector and the general public, on the Barley Innovation Centre project in the coming months.