Published: 05/02/2024
As the fourth most important cereal crop in the world (after maize, rice and wheat), barley is grown in more than 100 countries and is used for animal feed, human food and the production of alcohol.
The International Barley Hub aims to improve the resilience and sustainability of barley crop production and mitigate the impacts of climate and environmental change.
To this end, we will be welcoming 170 delegates from all over the world to the Crop Innovation Centre at Invergowrie this week to discuss new discoveries in barley crop science, leading edge advances in technologies, sustainability and opportunities for future collaborations.
The week kicks off with the annual project meetings for two EU projects, RECOBAR and BEST-CROP, featuring speakers at all stages of their scientific careers from established academics to PhD students and from as far afield as the University of Melbourne and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas in Morrocco.

RECOBAR (Recovering and Exploiting Old and New Barley Diversity for Future-Ready Agriculture) is a multi-disciplinary project focused on the exploration of the wide diversity harboured by old varieties and landraces of barley.
BEST-CROP involves 18 partners from seven EU countries and the United Kingdom and aims to use the major advances in photosynthetic knowledge to improve barley yield and exploit the variability of barley straw quality and composition.
The Barley Genome Network, a European competence network for joint development, processing and use of resources for genome research, will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday and will include a session for PhD students and early career researchers to find out more about fellowship opportunities from members of the community who have held these positions themselves.
To finish off the week, the Hutton-organised annual Barley Away Days will be held on 6th and Friday 7th February at the Birnam Institute, Dunkeld. These are informal and interactive days, giving participants the opportunity to revel in barley-related science and get to know each other better, while also hearing about the latest research from top international scientists as well as a broad selection of staff and students from the Hutton, the University of Dundee and other IBH associated institutions.
Press and media enquiries contact: Media Officer, Joyce Reid, at joyce.reid@hutton.ac.uk