Research and Experimental Trials at Church Farm
The John Innes Centre has a field trials and experimentation farm located on the outskirts of Norwich, in the village of Bawburgh. This is where crops that have been studied under laboratory and greenhouse conditions are taken into the field to trial how they perform in real life conditions.
Church Farm is home to the Dorothea de Winton field station where we bring together lab and field research in one location to improve facilities for research in understanding how genes control plant growth in the field.
In the field, the plants are subjected to fluctuating weather conditions, variable soil, water and nutrient availability and the risk of pests and diseases. Excluding weather, a degree of control can be maintained by irrigation, variable inputs of fertilisers, and pesticides as required. These trials allow researchers to measure how plants grow in a commercial farm environment.
Experimental Crop Research