Developing enhanced breeding methodolgoies for oats for human health and nutrition - industrial see 11619

Oats have a wide range of end-uses as human food, as a high value livestock feed and as a source of high value compounds with industrial applications. Despite an expanding market in the human food sector due to their proven health benefits, the oat crop is facing increasing competition from other arable crops which is impacting on the economics of the crop and on the area of oats grown within the UK. There is an urgent need to improve key traits that will increase the production and utilisation of oats whilst also mitigating environmental change via reduced agricultural inputs. It is important to not only improve our understanding of the factors contributing to variation in yield of the oat crop, but also enhance grain quality and composition to ensure that the oats that are grown meet the needs of end-users.