Lincoln-based agri-tech firm B-hive Innovations will host a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship after research scientist Dr Barbara dos Santos Correia was successful in her application, which will provide £675,000 to support the company’s TuberSense project.
TuberSense aims to detect diseases and defects in potato crops, using volatile biomarkers and innovative gas sensors and will help to establish a framework for crop disease prevention and precision detection from farm to fork.
Dr Santos Correia commented, “I am delighted to have secured this UKRI funding with B-hive’s support. This funding will support our latest research project, which can transform the agri-food industry. We’re incredibly eager to commence our research activities with our project partners – Branston Limited, UWE Bristol, Warwick University and the James Hutton Institute. Our TuberSense project will help to identify emerging climate-driven and disruptive diseases that affect potato farming and storage across the UK and create innovative decision support tools based on volatile sensing.”
Vidyanath Gururajan, managing director at B-hive Innovations, added, “It’s fantastic that Barbara has received this funding. Not only will it support her development as a research scientist, but projects such as TuberSense can be undertaken to help transform the agriculture industry. We’d like to say thank you to UKRI, for providing us with this opportunity, and to our partners who will be working alongside our team during this transformational project. We look forward to research getting underway and the results it will bring.”
Photo Caption: Dr Barbara dos Santos Correia.