24 Nov 2014
SCI Agrisciences Group is the new name for the technical interest group for all members with interests in agriculture. Formerly called BioResources Group, SCI Agrisciences Group will continue to have a scope covering all aspects of the science and business of crop production, crop protection and crop utilisation (food and non-food). Only the name is changing.
The name BioResources was adopted in 2007 to reflect the de facto wider scope of the former Pest Management Group, which itself had evolved from the Pesticides Group established 60 years ago. With the development of biotechnology and its application to crops, the major agrochemical companies had become concerned with crop production rather than the narrower field of crop protection. At that time, there was great interest in non-food uses of crops, especially for biofuels. The name was chosen to indicate a scope covering all aspects of the planet’s biological resources. However, it has become increasingly clear that most people associate the name with bio-based products: biofuels, biomaterials, biorefineries, etc. Although still part of the group’s remit, this is a relatively minor area, concerning crop utilisation. There is more emphasis on crop production and crop protection, in general.
Over the past couple of years the group has organised conferences covering a wide range of topics including: the sustainable intensification of agriculture, dealing with drought stress in crops, plant breeding for higher yields, waste in the agri-food chain, biopesticides, processing biomass, insect decline, and comparing the uptake of molecules through leaves and skin. In addition, the group has regular Agri-Innovation conferences looking at emerging sciences and technologies for crop research; and events for PhD students and post-docs to present their work.
The Group and the committee welcome new members. If you have any ideas for the Group, or would like to get more involved, perhaps joining the committee, please email communications@soci.org.
Dr Alan Baylis
Chairman, Agrisciences Group
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