PhD Student Vacancy: EastBio – Effect of latitude and cover crop phenotype on the impact on weeds, pests and soil health

Job title:

PhD Student Vacancy: EastBio – Effect of latitude and cover crop phenotype on the impact on weeds, pests and soil health

Company

The James Hutton Institute

Job description

Cover/catch crops include a multitude of species and species mixtures. They have many potential impacts on soil including holding onto or redistributing nutrients in the soil profile, improving soil structure, improving water holding capacity of soil, increasing soil carbon, and supressing pests and weeds. Many governments (including UK) are encouraging cover/catch crops utilisation in agricultural rotations, however, success in northern climates has been mixed. Winter cover crops are usually sown from August through to mid-September in Scotland after the main crop harvest and are destroyed in February / March prior to drilling follow-on crops. Without winter cover crops the soil will remain bare and exposed over the winter period which can lead to significant damage (compaction, erosion, leaching). Cover crops in some circumstances have been shown suppress pests such as nematodes and to increase the yield of follow-on crops. Data relating to the effectiveness of cover crops in northern regions is limited, and changes in daylight and often rapid drops in temperature in the autumn, slug damage can lead to failure of the cover crops to thrive. We hypothesis that different plants traits will lead to successful cover crop implementation in the different environments.The project will have four objectives: 1) determine the main factors limiting cover crop establishment and impact on soil physical and biological health depending on location, rotation and cover crop type; 2) Identify cover crops that are resistant/tolerant of pests (e.g slugs, geese, crows etc).and reduce weed burden 3) Identify the potential for cover crops to manage problematic pests (e.g. leatherjackets (crane fly larvae)) and weeds. 4) Establish traits that could be used in breeding to increase the stability and effectiveness of cover crops in Northern environments.The student will be able to utilise cover crops trials on the three sites to assess species and species mixtures effectiveness of cover crops in managing weeds and pests, soil health and impact on follow on crops. The three locations 1) South of the forth, 2) Tayside, and 3) Orkney contain complementary trials including long-term comparison of cover-crops in barley rotations, more complex rotations under different tillage systems and overwintering cover crops, grown between consecutive spring barley crops in an otherwise grass heavy rotation UHI Orkney. In addition, the student will have access to contained environment phenotyping, including imaging and image analysis methods & genotyping facilities at the James Hutton Institute for investigating potential traits for breeding underlying genetic drivers.The EastBio partnership offers fully-funded competition based studentships. Funding covers Home (UK fees), a stipend at UKRI norm level (£19,327 for 2024/2025) and project costs. Application guidance can be found on the Eastbio website; . Information on UKRI-BBSRC can be found on the UKRI websiteWe will not consider the use of 3rd party recruitment agencies for the sourcing of candidates for this position.The James Hutton Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.The James Hutton Institute is a: Stonewall Diversity Champion; Athena SWAN Bronze Status Holder; Disability Confident Committed Employer and a Living Wage Employer.The James Hutton Institute is Happy to Talk Flexible Working.

Expected salary

£19237 per year

Location

Dundee

Job date

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 02:12:17 GMT

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