£4.9m oats project launched

QUOATS is being funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Government, with wide-ranging industry partners being led by Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environment and Rural Science.

The aim is to develop varieties that will enhance health benefits as more and more people turn to oats as part of a healthier diet.

Increased demand for safe, healthy and nutritious food or feedstuff, together with increased agricultural energy and fertiliser costs and the need to farm in a more sustainable manner are also among the drivers behind the study, according to Dr Athole Marshall, head of the oat breeding programme at IBERS.

“Oats are a valuable break crop in cereal rotations, reducing disease and weed problems, requiring less fertiliser than wheat, performing well in marginal areas and a high value animal feed which can be grown and fed on-farm,” he says.

“At IBERS, we are successfully combining fundamental research on plant genetics with plant breeding techniques to develop commercially viable plant varieties that help meet the challenges of food, water and energy security, and environmental sustainability.”

Oat varieties developed at IBERS currently account for more than 60 per cent of the UK oat seed market, with a farm gate value of £80 million.

Despite the advantages that oats already offer, Dr Marshall believes there is a need to develop new varieties that will respond well to environmental and climate change, use less fertiliser, be more productive and more attractive to manufacturers and consumers.

The team will study the genetic basis of β-glucan content in oats, which is known to lower blood cholesterol, with the aim of developing new varieties that are tailor-made for the healthy foods market.

The project will also be looking to develop oats that provide a high energy feed for the poultry and ruminant sectors that may also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from animal production.

And, in a novel and innovative development, the study will be investigating the possibility of using oats to manufacture platform chemicals for the plastics, cosmetics and food industry.

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