HRH The Princess Royal came to see us today!

Anne, the Princess Royal, helicoptered in to Henfaes Research Centre today to talk to SRT and to agricultural researchers in the School of Environment Natural Resources and Geography (SENRGY). She was accompanied by The Lord Lieutenant for Gwynedd  the Vice Chancellor of Bangor University and The High Sheriff.

HRH was most interested in our work and admired our Sarpo varieties.  She accepted a sample of certified seed of Axona and Blue Danube.  She was particularly keen to try Blue Danube. Katherine Steele, SENRGY, told HRH about our collaborative work with Burpee on late-blight resistance in tomatoes

Guests included representatives of the Welsh Government, DEFRA, NERC and Snowdonia National Park.

I was too busy to take photos except the ones below.
Helicopter circles the farm




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Welsh Government Minister visits the Trust

@WG_FinanceMin ister and Leader of the Assembly, Jane Hutt, came to Henfaes Research Centre on Thursday with the CE of WEFO (Welsh European Funding Office) to find out how KESS (Knowledge, Economy Skills Studentships) have benefitted SRT and Bangor University. 

 Our students, James Stroud and Natalie Chivers, told her about their projects. James said how he had used molecular markers to identify late-blight resistance genes in tomato and different strains of Phytophthora infestans. Collaboration with Burpee Europe and Dr Katherine Steele, Bangor University, has culminated in the selection of a new cultivar of tomato, Crimson Crush, with excellent blight resistance for outdoor growing in UK. Natalie explained how her project will find out how far fields of flowering potatoes benefit pollinating and predatory insects. Another KESS studentship to Simon White is using molecular probes to identify blight resistance genes that can be bred into new Sarpo potato varieties.

 Guests were pleased to receive gifts of certified seed potatoes resistant to blight. The Minister said she would give some to her colleague, Deputy Minister for Food and Farming, Rebecca Evans AM
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L to R: Damian O'Brien (CE WEFO); David Shaw (SRT) Minister Jane Hutt, Natalie Chivers; James Stroud and Katherine Steele.
James and Natalie with posters

Buying certified seed of Sarpo blight-resistant potatoes

We are pleased to announce that @organicplantsuk are selling the whole range of our low-input potato varieties by mail order. Hurry while stocks last.

They also sell a range of organically grown veg plants of the best varieties raised in peat-free compost for the gardener.