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John Innes Centre

Food Security

27th January 2010

At a public event on February 9th, scientists from the John Innes Centre and the Sainsbury Laboratory will talk about how research in Norwich is helping to tackle the global challenge of food security. 

Rapidly growing world population, loss of prime agricultural land, greater demands for water and resources and the threat of climate change are all putting pressure on global food security.  A report published by the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, highlighted the role that science will play in underpinning the delivery of safe, nutritious and affordable food in the future. 

“There is a crucial role for plant science in developing new crops that are able to adapt to climate change, that have increased yields from reduced inputs such as water and fertilizers, that resist pests and diseases without the use of chemicals, and have improved nutritional qualities,” said Professor Mike Bevan, Acting Director of the John Innes Centre. 

Research at the John Innes Centre and the Sainsbury Laboratory is at the forefront of combating this global challenge and this event will showcase the valuable contribution Norwich scientists are making to food security. 

“There are many important crop diseases that threaten agricultural productivity and food security,” said Prof Sophien Kamoun, Head of The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL).  “I will talk about the research taking place at TSL to address crop diseases and how the study of genomes has opened up new research territory in plant pathology.”  Other speakers will talk about using science to increase yield and reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint.

The Friends of John Innes Centre are hosting this series of public talks. There will be an opportunity to discuss the issues and whether enough is being done to resolve them.

The John Innes Centre is an Institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the UK’s largest funder of the bioscience that contributes to food security. The BBSRC is leading a multi-agency action to develop a coordinated programme of research that can be rapidly translated into sustainable practice for food security.