National Institute of Agricultural Botany
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| Type | Agribusiness |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Location | Cambridge, England |
| Key people | Mr. A W D Pexton, Chairman and Prof. Wayne Powell, Chief Executive Officer |
| Industry | Agriculture |
| Products | Trials & Evaluation, Seed Certification, Plant Breeders Rights (PBR), Laboratory Services, Research and Training courses, Seed Testing, Subscription services and Publications. |
| Employees | Approx. 150 |
| Website | http://www.niab.com |
National Institute of Agricultural Botany
Founded in 1919 the National Institute of Agricultural Botany or NIAB is a plant science research organization developing parental plant breeding material, research, technical services and training in plant genetic resources for world-wide use. With over 80 years experience in the agricultural and food sectors, we have earned a reputation for independence, innovation and integrity. NIAB’s traditional core activities are variety characterization and evaluation; seed testing, operating official seed certification schemes and training.
A major new function of NIAB is to engage in pre-competitive plant breeding with a mandate to produce a portfolio of novel traits targeted at specific end-uses. The imperative of this initiative will be to develop new traits and capture them in germplasm that is acceptable and usable by commercial plant breeding companies. The main focus will be on environmentally and nutritionally relevant, strategic traits in line with the needs of UK government and society
Three operational centers function to supply research, services and training to a broad customer base including governments, supra-governmental agencies, the international development agencies, science research councils, agribusiness, and industry funded non-governmental organizations, plant breeders, commercial companies, consultants and farmers.
Based in Cambridge, UK, NIAB is located in a world-renowned centre for science, technology and education, at the heart of the UK agricultural and food industries. NIAB operates a quality management system accredited to ISO 9001: 2000 for all its activities.
Registered company number England 3395389
NIAB
Huntingdon Road
Cambridge
CB3 0LE
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[edit] Services
Trials & Evaluation – we operate field trials from eight NIAB staffed centers across England & Wales. Facilities and specialist equipment at these centers allow us to carry out trials with a wide range of crops. There are extensive programs at each centre and trials can be grown under controlled conditions or located in commercial crops where appropriate. We are registered to GEP standards for agrochemical product evaluation.
Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) - working on behalf of Defra we run test for Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability for variety characterization for UK Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR). We carry out similar tests for the Community Plant Variety Office for the issue of European Plant Breeders Rights. A range of Agricultural, Horticultural and Ornamental species can be tested.
Seed Certification – NIAB operates seed certification schemes for Defra as part of a new 10-year contract that commenced in 2006. This involves monitoring seed lot quality through check plots, inspection of high-grade material, monitoring Licensed Seed Testing Stations, training and certification of licensed inspectors.
Laboratory Services – our well-equipped and modern laboratories offer a range of services from seed quality testing, disease diagnostics, produce quality assessments and variety identification.
Research – Research at NIAB is carried out by all three operational centers with the emphasis on genomics, pre-competitive plant breeding, utilization of disease resistance and understanding seed technology. In all cases we strive to produce and deliver results that will aid the development of more sustainable production systems that are environmentally responsible.
Training courses – Training courses at NIAB are classroom; laboratory and field based and cover a wide range of crops and disciplines. Those based around the seed certification schemes that NIAB operates on behalf of Defra provide the necessary level of skills for new entrants to the industry as well as refresher courses for those needing to maintain their skills and appropriate certification.
Other services - We can supply statistical and computation advice on the design and analysis of your own trials or analysis and interpretation on your own results.
[edit] Board of directors
NIAB board is lead by Mr. A W D Pexton (Chairman) and comprises, Mr. A Blackburn, Mr. D Caffall, Mr. V Hedley Lewis, Mr. P Heygate, Prof. J Parker, Dr F Salamini, Prof. P R Shewry. Representing the NIAB Executive are Prof. W Powell (CEO) and Dr T Barsby (Secretary/Site Director).
[edit] History
The National Institute of Agricultural Botany was founded in 1919, following requests from farmers and seedsmen, through the initiative of Sir Lawrence Weaver, the Commercial Secretary of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. The objects of the Institute were described in a declaration of Trust as including:-
(1) Promoting the improvement of existing varieties of seeds, plants and crops in the United Kingdom and aiding the introduction or distribution of new varieties;
(2) Promoting the improvement of methods of husbandry for the benefit of agriculture or horticulture or any of the allied or accessory trades or industries as regards matters mentioned in paragraph (1) or any matters ancillary thereto;
(3) Encouraging the discovery of, investigating, and making known the nature and merits of methods of treatment, inventions, improvements, processes and designs which may seem of benefit to the seed industry or any of the allied or accessory trades or industries.
The Trust Deed provided for the Institute to be administered and managed by a Council and gave them wide powers to achieve those objectives. From its foundation the Institute has sought to attain its object of improving crop varieties in the United Kingdom by investigating the relative merits of different varieties available and by publishing the results in its journal.
An important element to the historical account of the Institute is its relationship with another of Weaver’s interests; the welfare of ex-servicemen. A great number of the staff employed by the Institute at the time of its inception where officers and men whom had recently returned from active service. The building of the Institute was closely associated with provision of houses for the Housing Association for Officers Families (HAFOF).
In 1917, the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries had established the Official Seed Testing Station (OSTS) for England and Wales under the Seeds Act, and in 1921 it became one of the branches of the Institute at its newly built headquarters in Cambridge. Its aim was (and still is) to improve and monitor the quality of agricultural seeds by testing samples and issuing reports thereon. The information reported by the station is used by seed sellers, purchasers and by farmers growing their own seed.
The Institute established its Potato Testing Station in 1920, at Ormskirk. The work of that branch was primarily to carry out annual trials of new potato varieties for immunity from wart disease on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture. Other chief areas of work were variety yield trials, “seed” potato husbandry, the eradication of synonymous varieties and virus research. The Potato Testing Station was closed in 1939 with Wart Disease testing moved to Harpenden and yield trials dispersed to the NIAB regional centers.
The Fourth International Seed Testing Congress was held at the Institute in July 1924 and the International Seed Testing Association was formed during that meeting. The OSTS was thus a founder member of ISTA. Testing of seed samples at the OSTS, pursuant to the issue of I.S.T.A. certificates, remains a key role of NIAB to this day.
In 1942, at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Council of the Institute set up the Seed Production Branch to encourage the production of better seed crops in England and Wales and to act as a focal point in all matters relating to the home production of seeds. General field trials had been temporarily suspended earlier in that same war-time period.
The Council felt that the Institute could best serve the nation’s interests by concentrating on seed production, thus helping to secure the food supply at that time of blockade. The department has since then overseen national strategies for seed certification; from the initial voluntary schemes through to the mandatory European Community directive driven official crop inspections and varietal purity control plots which are administered on behalf of Defra. It has a long-standing responsibility for the training and examination of Licensed Crop Inspectors.
Comparative trialing of new varieties of agricultural crops has always been, and remains, one of the core mechanisms by which NIAB delivers its objects. Evaluation of performance traits such as yield, resistance to disease etc. against the best of those currently widely available was the principle applied in the formative years. The NIAB would then multiply seed quantities of varieties approved for general release.
Post World War Two the work of NIAB expanded in scale and scope.
• The following decades saw the introduction of new variety tests, increased membership of the Institute’s Fellowship scheme and thus wider distribution of Farmer’s Leaflets and adaptation to the aforementioned national and then European Community regulations.
• The assessment of crop varieties for Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS), and Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) has become one of the core elements of work undertaken.
• Pathology departments, both seed and plant, have developed to undertake studies in the understanding and control of disease and to test submitted material for the presence of pathogens.
• The OSTS has performed testing in an official capacity as the seeds industry adapted to changes in Seeds legislation in the 1960s and 1970’s when the UK adopted the European Community certification schemes. The OSTS continues to offer advisory seed testing services carries out official testing and monitors the Licensed Seed Testing Laboratory scheme on behalf of Defra.
• In the late 1970’s the Chemistry and Quality Assessment Branch was established to undertake the tests needed as part of the criteria for National and Recommended List trialling.
A detailed account of the Institute’s history is given in the 312 page book “Crop and Seed Improvement”. The authors, both of whom spent their careers at the NIAB, present a full record of the work undertaken up to 1996. Details are available from the Institute’s Association Office.
The Institute holds a large collection of historical documents, photographs and books relating specifically to its work and also to its place within the farming and local communities. These are available for access, with prior arrangement, by interested parties. Contact +44 (0) 1223 342249/342320.
[edit] Sources
Crop and Seed Improvement - A history of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany 1919 to 1996, By Dr P S Wellington and Valerie Silvey. (ISBN 0-948851-11-2) See link to British Libaray - http://catalogue.bl.uk/F/?func=full-set-set&set_number=021580&set_entry=000001&format=999
[edit] External links
Web link – www.niab.com [1]
