Crop Health

The world population is projected to increase to a maximum of 9 billion by 2045-2050. At the same time climate change is expected to exert a significant negative impact on crop production. Meeting global and local demands for food and crop products is going to present a considerable challenge. Not only must we raise yields and protect crop health, but this must be done without damaging our fragile soil environment, because crop yield and health are underpinned by the maintenance of soil functions and other ecosystem services.

At the Farm Advisory Service, the ways in which we aim to meet these challenges are:

• Maintain Scotland’s high crop health status
• Reduced reliance on pesticides
• Increase uptake of integrated and sustainable crop protection methods
• Compliance with regulatory standards
• Improved profitability of the Scottish crop sector