Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Meadow owners in Carmarthenshire got together at a recent event to discuss forming a group. More than 60 people attended the event held at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, which was organised by members of the Carmarthenshire Biodiversity Partnership . The aim was to inspire the creation of a county-wide community of landowners which would support each other to improve the diversity of plants, fungi and animals on meadows, large or small, across Carmarthenshire. Like much of the UK, where 98% of flower-rich meadows have been lost in the past century, Carmarthenshire’s traditional wildflower-rich meadows have been much reduced in the county and are now a rarity. Through the formation of a meadows group, which could provide opportunities for landowners to come together and share experience, knowledge and enthusiasm, it is hoped that many more important areas of meadow in Carmarthenshire can be managed to enhance their wildlife. Help will be provided initially through opportunities...

The avocado undergoes a sex change overnight, and orchids are the kinky perverts of the plant world, but although there are 20,000 varieties of orchid we only eat one – the vanilla pod! These are just some of the fascinating facts unearthed in Professor John Warren’s new book The Nature of Crops – How we came to eat the plants we do, to be published by CABI on April 24. Professor Warren is the Director of Learning and Teaching at Aberystwyth University’s IBERS (Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences) and formerly worked as a cocoa breeder working on the world chocolate bank at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad. He has an academic interest in the sex-life of plants and a recreational interest in all things edible. Professor Warren said: “Wheat, rice, potatoes and cassava are all crops that were domesticated a long time ago. I strongly believe that we should still be domesticating new crops as we do in IBERS if we want to make the world a better place. Un...

Saturday May 18 is the second International Fascination of Plants Day. Events that celebrate plants will take place all over the globe thanks to this initiative led by the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO). In Aberystwyth, staff from Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) will be leading the event. The aim of the day is to fascinate and enthuse everyone about plants and the importance of plant science for agriculture, forestry, horticulture, food, paper, timber, chemicals, energy, and pharmaceuticals. The role of plants in environmental conservation is also a key message. There will be interactive exhibits at Aberystwyth Arts Centre and the University Botany Garden glasshouse will be open from 10.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. Visitors can take a guided tour or wander through the glasshouse themselves. Dr Julie Hofer, Research Scientist at IBERS and organiser of the event said, “Plants are fundamental to our existence, providing ...

An unusual strain of plant that never flowers has enabled scientists to isolate a gene that is essential for the formation of the branches on which flowers form. Writing in Nature Communications today, Tuesday 24 April, an international team of scientists which includes Professor Noel Ellis from Aberystwyth University, outline how they studied a mutant pea plant, Pisum sativum, to identify the gene that leads to formation of flowering branches on plants. By comparing it with flowering plants, the researchers were able, after many years of painstaking research, to identify a gene that controls the development of these branches on plants. Professor Ellis from the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth is an expert on legumes - plants such as peas and clover. He believes this work puts in place the methods, principles and expertise needed to use genetics for the development of more productive and environmentally beneficial legumes. Pro...

Scientists at Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) are playing their part in addressing the UK protein deficit through a five-year research project valued at £2.15million. As consumers increasingly switch from largely vegetable based diets to consumption of more meat and dairy, global demand for animal protein is predicted to rise by 85% by 2050 driven by population growth and increasing affluence in developing countries. As a result, demand for vegetable proteins as animal feedstock has risen, and the UK currently faces a shortfall in domestic vegetable protein production capability. Increasing reliance on imports poses potentially significant supply and economic risks to the UK due to the combined effects of climate change and rising global demand. Additionally there are growing concerns over the environmental sustainability of increasing production of South American soya, which currently accounts for over 90% of EU protein imp...