20 October 2022
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2022 CUPGRA line-up and topics announced.
CUPGRA, the annual potato conference held in Cambridge, England, will provide the opportunity to interact with the foremost industry innovators and scientists to debate current issues when it is held on December 14th.
The 2022 Conference will focus on innovation for potato management in its broadest sense, with a strong line-up of UK and international speakers.
Opening speakers will look at challenges for potato growers and the supply chain from a number of angles. The main sessions will explore new approaches to pest management and the role and opportunities that precision breeding technology might bring. In the forum, researchers, agronomists and growers will debate whether cover crops and reduced tillage approaches bring more problems than they solve.
Again, CUPGRA will host the Eric Allen Memorial Lecture “Understanding how potatoes grow determines how to grow potatoes” with young scientists sharing their research and vision for a new focus on resource use efficiency. Dr Katharina Huntenburg of Wageningen University will explore Water relations and Dr Joseph Martlew of NIAB will look at rooting constraints. This is open to all, so even those who can’t make it to the conference as a whole can register for this event for free.
On Tuesday evening,the Potato Barons’ Christmas Feast will be held in St John’s College Great Hall, Cambridge, with after-dinner speaker Max MacGillivray reflecting on ‘growing and supporting your own high-quality staff’ and entertainment by the ‘Gentlemen of London’.
On the second day, there is a choice of four workshops and expert discussions. These include:
1. Sprout suppression: Evaluating the options (all possible products represented for open discussion) with Sarah Roberts
2. Wireworm: Managing a population explosion? Bringing experience and research-based knowledge together with Martyn Cox
3. What is a carbon budget? Why do they all give different answers? with Becky Wilson
4. Early findings of the BBSRC Blackleg Project with Ian Toth
5. Improving N use efficiency - win/win to reduce cost and carbon footprint with Mac McWilliam & Elizabeth Stockdale
6. Exploring opportunities for control of PCN with Potato Partnership
7. Enhancing photosynthesis: discussing the issues with growers with Jonathan Menary
The event, which is currently being registered for BASIS points, regularly attracts more than 200 members of the industry. For more information click here.
