Carol Wagstaff from the University of Reading and Leon Terry from Cranfield University introduce the new Horticulture Quality and Food Loss Network, which aims to stimulate research in the horticultural and post‐harvest sector to improve crop quality and to prevent food loss .

Introduction

Horticultural crops (vegetables, fruit, potatoes, flowers) contribute over £4bn to the UK economy per annum, making the sector even more valuable to our national economy than cereal crops, such as wheat, barley and oats (worth >£3bn)^[ 1^] . Horticultural crops are major components of a healthy diet, yet the majority of UK citizens fail to consume enough vegetables and fruit. Consumption of a high dietary proportion of vegetables and fruit contributes to the prevention of non‐communicable diseases, which themselves cost the NHS substantial amounts of money per annum, lost days at work and poor attendance at school. Potatoes also provide essential dietary nutrients and fibre and are particularly suitable for consumers who do not tolerate gluten.

Reducing waste

Globally, over one third of food produced across the whole food chain is wasted. In the UK, 51% of the food wasted is lost before it even reaches consumers, during either the agriculture, post‐harvest, distribution or processing stages^[ 2^] . The UK has committed to reducing food losses and waste by half by 2030 in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 12.3).

A significant proportion of food loss in horticultural production and processing relates to the inherent physiology of the crops, poor control of post‐harvest biology and the efficacy and appropriateness of the control systems applied. Further research into precision agriculture and smart technologies will be needed to tackle this food waste problem throughout the supply chain. More effective prediction and better control of harvesting windows could be achieved by improving understanding of the developmental biology of crops. Uniformity of crops and physical traits can be optimised by exploiting crop genetics. The risks of spoilage can be reduced by understanding and managing the biology of harvesting and storage processes, which influence shelf life.

Priority areas for BBSRC Agriculture and Food Security Strategy

There are benefits to the environment and the economy from reducing food loss along the supply chain, particularly when standard practices for extending shelf life, such as the use of plastic packaging, are being discouraged and the consumption of crops grown in the UK is being encouraged. Meeting these challenges is a priority area for the BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) Agriculture and Food Security Strategy. It will require crops that reach optimal harvest stage over a wider and more predictable seasonal window, that are of consistent and uniform quality, are resilient to bacteria, fungi and biochemical processes that cause spoilage, and that have extended storage life when they reach the consumer.

Horticulture Quality and Food Loss Network

Jointly‐led by Prof. Carol Wagstaff from the University of Reading and Prof. Leon Terry from Cranfield University, a new three‐year, £500k network is being established to tackle food waste and to improve quality in horticultural and potato crops. The network, known as the Horticulture Quality and Food Loss Network, is funded by UK Research and Innovation's BBSRC.

The Network's main objectives are to stimulate links between academics and industry, to attract a new cohort of early career researchers and to commission a diverse range of research projects on horticultural and post‐harvest food losses. It aims to act as the collective voice for the UK horticultural and post‐harvest community, attracting researchers from multiple disciplines to apply novel expertise to the challenges facing businesses from across the entire supply chain while developing the next generation of researchers to address food security. It will provide a focal point for industrial and academic practitioners to work together to develop new solutions to improve horticultural crop quality and prevent food loss and to help develop a more sustainable food system with a lower environmental footprint, which allows more of the food harvested to reach the table.

The Network's main objectives are to stimulate links between academics and industry, to attract a new cohort of early career researchers and to commission a diverse range of research projects on horticultural and post‐harvest food losses.

The Network will closely engage with government policy makers and advisory bodies to ensure that information flow is two way. It will also liaise with complementary networks and policy driving organisations to facilitate multidisciplinary approaches to address strategic priorities.

Activities

Growing the membership

Membership of the Horticulture Quality and Food Loss Network is free and open to all researchers throughout the UK, with access through a dedicated website. A number of community events have already generated interest and we have engagement from levy bodies, such as AHDB (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board), advisory bodies, such as WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) and research institutions, such as NIAB‐EMR (National Institute of Agricultural Botany) and James Hutton Institute. These links will help to develop industry involvement in the Network, targeting companies that work along horticultural supply chains including plant breeders, growers, processors and retailers. The Network membership will provide academic participants with the opportunity to engage with industry partners and develop collaborations.

Interest in joining the Network has already been confirmed from organisations in many countries around the world (Figure 2).

Network events

The dialogue between different parties will be assisted by network events, consultation and facilitated discussions enabling each to understand the needs of the other. Academics will be able to gain a better understanding of industry needs and of how their research can support end user problems. The network provides a forum to develop cross disciplinary industry‐academic partnerships and support the development and submission of research funding applications under schemes, such as Industrial Partner Awards and LINK.

Events will include an official launch, an industry workshop, sandpit meetings and a final research conference. Sandpit meetings are residential interactive workshops over several days involving 20‐30 participants with multidisciplinary backgrounds, including some active researchers and other users of research outcomes. The aim is to drive lateral thinking and radical approaches to research challenges.

The Network will engage with other organisations including WRAP, STFC FoodNetwork+, PhenomeUK, The Internet of Food Things, relevant BBSRC DTP3 consortia, GARNet, relevant learned societies (RSB, SCI, SEB etc.) and the UK horticultural industry to encourage plant scientists, engineers, computer scientists and food technologists to collaborate on cross disciplinary projects.

Pump‐priming projects

Companies and researchers will be encouraged to participate in pump‐priming projects that will map out plans for project advancement through subsequent development stages. Multidisciplinary projects will be selected for funding by the Network on the basis of excellence, novelty, stakeholder engagement and legacy plan to further progress the work. Pump‐priming funds aim to encourage industry to co‐fund in cash or in kind to underpin partnerships that are aiming to progress innovative scientific and technological approaches.

Small grants are supported by Business Interaction Vouchers and Networking Visit Funding to enable the community to develop appropriate partnerships, to allow pilot scale experiments and to focus on areas that will result in step change interventions for both academic and industry partners. The funds will be used for projects ranging from feasibility studies and acquisition of preliminary data through to desk‐based studies and visits to learn new techniques.

Two funding calls for concept notes will take place each year with £45,000 being allocated for each of the six rounds over three years (total £270,000). The second call each year will be ringfenced for early career researchers as defined by UKRI, in order to help build a legacy for the network.

Concept notes that will provide seed corn funding for new research feasibility studies will range between £5,000 and £20,000 with a duration of three to nine months each. The first calls will focus on the four priority areas within the BBSRC Agriculture and Food Security Strategy under the ‘reducing waste’ challenge:

• Enabling more effective prediction and better control of harvesting windows by understanding the underpinning developmental biology of crops

• Optimising uniformity and physical traits by exploiting crop genetics

• Reducing the risks of spoilage by understanding and managing the relevant biological processes

• Minimising losses within the food system by understanding and controlling the fundamental biology that influences food storage and shelf‐life.

Scientists working on fundamental biological processes, such as circadian clock regulation, the control of organ shape and size and pathogenicity of fungal and bacterial diseases, will be able to bring their expertise to crop‐based problems, alongside researchers from other disciplines, such as data scientists, engineers and logistics experts.

A further £15,000, split equally over the three years will be allocated to Business Interaction Vouchers (BIVs) to enable researchers to meet with industry partners and develop project ideas than can make a step change difference to the sector. A total of £15,000 over the three years will also be allocated for Networking Visit Funding (NVF), the purpose of which is to enable academics to meet and discuss project ideas.

The Network includes the entire supply chain, from breeders to retailer and consumer, but with a post‐harvest focus. Agronomic and breeding projects are encouraged, as long as they are firmly focused on a post‐farm gate issue connected to the prevention of food loss or improved crop quality at the point of its consumption.

Encouraging early career researchers

About half of the available prime‐pumping funds will be allocated to support early career researchers (ECRs) in securing their first research grants in the field of quality and food loss in horticulture. A dedicated ECR sandpit event is planned to enable these researchers to develop their personal networks with other academics and industry partners. This will be instrumental in ensuring that the food quality and loss academic community keeps growing and is strengthened by the inclusion of fresh ideas and novel approaches. It will help to ensure that there is a legacy of people developing high quality research in this area, as well as individual projects that will subsequently mature into long term solutions for the sector.

Defining success

Through Network membership it will be possible to coordinate, widen and inform community interactions across academic, business and other stakeholders, bringing in people at all stages of their careers. Use of the Network funding to drive larger follow‐on applications and engagement with other bodies will drive investment in horticulture, which will be captured through case studies highlighting scientific developments and business impact for the commercial sector.

This Network provides the opportunity to develop new collaborations that did not previously exist and has ambitions to become an international hub, providing opportunities for researchers to focus their careers on horticulture and providing much‐needed human capital to improve crop quality and future scientific investment.

Industry members will be able to consider medium‐ and longterm questions that are relevant for their business success. The Network will consequently bring the appropriate scientific disciplines together to make the step changes to practice, quality and supply chain efficiency that are necessary to put horticulture at the forefront of scientific and technological development.

中文翻译：

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研究更多，浪费更少

雷丁大学的卡罗尔·瓦格斯塔夫（Carol Wagstaff）和克兰菲尔德大学的莱昂·特里（Leon Terry）推出了新的园艺质量和粮食损失网络，旨在刺激园艺和收获后领域的研究，以改善作物质量并防止粮食损失。

介绍

园艺作物（蔬菜，水果，土豆，花卉）每年为英国经济贡献超过40亿英镑，这使得该行业对我们国家经济的价值甚至超过了谷物作物，例如小麦，大麦和燕麦（价值> 30亿英镑）^[ 1 ^]。园艺作物是健康饮食的主要组成部分，但大多数英国公民未能摄取足够的蔬菜和水果。饮食中食用高比例的蔬菜和水果有助于预防非传染性疾病，非传染性疾病本身每年使NHS付出大量金钱，工作日减少和上学率低下。马铃薯还提供必需的饮食营养和纤维，特别适合不耐麸质的消费者。

减少浪费

在全球范围内，浪费了整个食物链的三分之一以上的食物。在英国，无论是在农业，收获后，分配还是加工阶段，浪费掉的食物中有51％甚至没有到达消费者之前就已经损失掉了^[ 2 ^]。英国已承诺到2030年将粮食损失和浪费减少一半，以实现可持续发展目标（SDG 12.3）。

在园艺生产和加工过程中，很大一部分食物损失与作物的固有生理特性，收获后生物学的不良控制以及所采用控制系统的有效性和适当性有关。为了解决整个供应链中的食物浪费问题，将需要对精确农业和智能技术进行进一步研究。通过增进对农作物发育生物学的了解，可以实现更有效的预测和更好地控制收获窗口。可以通过利用作物遗传学来优化农作物的均匀性和物理特性。可以通过了解和管理收割和存储过程的生物学因素来降低变质的风险，这会影响保质期。

BBSRC农业与粮食安全战略的重点领域

减少供应链上的粮食损失对环境和经济都有好处，尤其是当不鼓励采用延长保质期的标准做法（例如使用塑料包装）并且鼓励在英国种植的农作物消费时。应对这些挑战是BBSRC（生物技术和生物科学研究委员会）农业与粮食安全战略的优先领域。这将要求作物在更宽广且更可预测的季节性窗口内达到最佳收获阶段，且质量始终如一，对导致腐败的细菌，真菌和生化过程具有弹性，并在到达消费者时具有延长的储存期。

园艺质量和粮食损失网络

由雷丁大学的Carol Wagstaff教授和克兰菲尔德大学的Leon Terry教授共同领导的一个为期三年，耗资50万英镑的新网络正在建立，以解决粮食浪费问题并提高园艺和马铃薯作物的质量。该网络被称为“园艺质量和粮食损失网络”，由英国研究与创新机构BBSRC资助。

该网络的主要目标是促进学者与行业之间的联系，吸引一批新的早期职业研究人员，并委托开展有关园艺和收获后食物损失的各种研究项目。它旨在充当英国园艺和收获后社区的集体代言人，吸引来自多个学科的研究人员将新颖的专业知识应用于整个供应链中企业所面临的挑战，同时发展下一代研究人员以解决食品安全问题。它将为工业界和学术界人士提供一个焦点，共同努力开发新的解决方案，以改善园艺作物的质量并防止粮食流失，并帮助开发具有更低环境足迹的更具可持续性的粮食系统，

该网络的主要目标是促进学者与行业之间的联系，吸引一批新的早期职业研究人员，并委托开展有关园艺和收获后食物损失的各种研究项目。

该网络将与政府决策者和咨询机构紧密合作，以确保信息流是两种方式。它还将与补充网络和政策驱动组织保持联络，以促进采用多学科方法来解决战略重点。

活动项目

成员数量的增长

园艺质量和食物损失网络的会员资格是免费的，并且对英国所有研究人员开放，并可通过专用网站进行访问。许多社区活动已经引起了人们的兴趣，我们吸引了征税机构（如AHDB（农业和园艺发展委员会），咨询机构（如WRAP（废物和资源行动计划））以及研究机构（如NIAB-EMR）的参与（国家农业植物研究所）和詹姆斯·赫顿研究所。这些链接将有助于发展该网络的行业参与度，将目标对准从事园艺供应链工作的公司，包括植物育种者，种植者，加工者和零售商。该网络成员资格将为学术参与者提供与行业合作伙伴互动和发展合作的机会。

世界上许多国家/地区的组织已经证实有兴趣加入该网络（图2）。

网络事件

社交活动，协商和便利的讨论将有助于各方之间的对话，使彼此了解彼此的需求。学者们将能够更好地了解行业需求以及他们的研究如何支持最终用户的问题。该网络提供了一个论坛，以发展跨学科的行业-学术合作伙伴关系，并根据“工业合作伙伴奖”和“ LINK”等计划，支持研究基金申请的开发和提交。

活动将包括正式启动，行业研讨会，沙坑会议和最终研究会议。沙坑会议是为期数天的住宅互动研讨会，涉及20-30名具有多学科背景的参与者，其中包括一些活跃的研究人员和其他研究成果的使用者。目的是推动横向思考和采用激进的方法来应对研究挑战。

该网络将与其他组织合作，包括WRAP，STFC FoodNetwork +，PhenomeUK，食品物联网，相关的BBSRC DTP3联盟，GARNET，相关的学会（RSB，SCI，SEB等）以及英国的园艺行业，以鼓励植物科学家，工程师，计算机科学家和食品技术专家合作进行跨学科项目。

泵灌注项目

将鼓励公司和研究人员参与泵注工程，该工程将为通过后续开发阶段的项目推进制定计划。网络将基于卓越，新颖性，利益相关者的参与和遗留计划来选择多学科项目来资助网络，以进一步推进工作。大量注资的基金旨在鼓励行业以现金或实物形式共同出资，以支持旨在推进创新科技方法的伙伴关系。

商业互助券和网络访问资金支持小额赠款，以使社区能够发展适当的伙伴关系，允许进行试点规模的实验，并专注于将导致针对学术和行业合作伙伴进行分阶段干预的领域。资金将用于项目，从可行性研究和初步数据获取到基于案头的研究和访问以学习新技术。

每年将举行两次概念注释融资会议，并在三年内为六个回合中的每一个分配45,000英镑（总计270,000英镑）。每年第二次电话会议将受到UKRI定义的早期职业研究人员的欢迎，以帮助为该网络建立遗产。

概念说明将为新的研究可行性研究提供种子玉米资金，范围在5,000到20,000英镑之间，每期持续三到九个月。首次呼吁将重点放在“减少浪费”挑战下的BBSRC农业与粮食安全战略中的四个优先领域：

•通过了解农作物的发育生物学基础，可以更有效地预测和更好地控制收获窗口

•通过利用作物遗传学来优化均一性和物理性状

•通过了解和管理相关的生物过程来减少变质的风险

•通过了解和控制影响食品储存和货架期的基本生物学，将食品系统内的损失降到最低。

从事基本生物过程（如昼夜节律调节，器官形状和大小控制以及真菌和细菌性疾病的致病性）的科学家，将能够与其他学科的研究人员一起，将其专业知识用于基于作物的问题，例如数据科学家，工程师和物流专家。

另外，还将在三年内平均分配15,000英镑给业务交互凭单（BIV），以使研究人员与行业合作伙伴见面并提出项目构想，从而对行业产生重大影响。三年内还将为网络访问资助（NVF）分配总计15,000英镑，其目的是使学者们能够见面并讨论项目构想。

该网络涵盖了从饲养员到零售商和消费者的整个供应链，但重点是收获后。鼓励开展农业和育种项目，只要它们坚定地专注于与食用后预防粮食损失或改善作物质量有关的后门问题。

鼓励早期职业研究人员

大约有一半的主要抽水资金将用于支持早期职业研究人员（ECR），以确保他们在园艺质量和粮食损失领域获得第一笔研究经费。计划举行专门的ECR沙坑活动，以使这些研究人员能够与其他学者和行业合作伙伴建立他们的个人网络。这将有助于确保食品质量和损失学术界保持增长，并通过纳入新鲜的想法和新颖的方法而得到加强。这将有助于确保有大量人员在此领域开展高质量的研究，以及单个项目，这些项目随后将发展成为该行业的长期解决方案。

定义成功

通过网络成员资格，有可能在学术界，企业界和其他利益相关者之间协调，扩大和告知社区互动，从而吸引各个职业阶段的人们。利用网络资金来推动更大的后续应用以及与其他机构的合作将推动对园艺的投资，这将通过重点研究科学发展和对商业领域的商业影响的案例研究来体现。

该网络为发展以前不存在的新合作提供了机会，并且有成为国际中心的雄心，为研究人员提供了将其职业专注于园艺的机会，并提供了急需的人力资本来改善作物质量和未来的科学投资。

行业成员将能够考虑与其业务成功相关的中长期问题。因此，该网络将把适当的科学学科整合在一起，对实践，质量和供应链效率进行逐步改变，这对于使园艺业处于科学技术发展的前沿是必不可少的。