NIAB Trial services and glasshouse services at East Malling

IAB’s work at East Malling has gained recognition around the world through its employment of enthusiastic scientists from a wide range of disciplines who have become experts in their field. Together, they have engaged directly with fruit growers to develop solutions to their problems and help to increase yields and fruit quality, allowing local growers to remain profitable and compete on the world stage. In addition to our traditional fruit research, we now provide a range of trials services and glasshouse services to support the fruit industry.

Adrian Harris, Horticultural Trials Co-ordinator • adrian.harris@niab.com

Trials services

We offer a range of technical support through bespoke trials services, technical innovation, independent evaluation and commercial demonstration, all of which is accredited by ORETO, ISO and GEP. Specifically, we offer help in crop protection, crop production systems, vines and wine production, variety and novel crop trialling, true-totype DNA fingerprinting and growing media trials. Crucially, the work we do is independent, authoritative, comprehensive and impartial.

Emma Easton, Head of Glasshouse Services • emma.easton@niab.com

Glasshouse services

Newly constructed and opened in 2022, with funding from Growing Kent & Medway, Kent County Council and The East Malling Trust, we offer both glasshouse and growth room facilities for research purposes to the fruit industry.

The glasshouses cover a total area of just under 2,000m2 with compartments ranging from 24 to 352m2. All compartments have concrete floors, allowing them to be fully cleaned between crops, ensuring that pests and pathogens are not carried from one crop to another. Each glasshouse compartment has insect proof netting on the vents, along with lockable zones for high-risk pest and pathogen research. The glass is built to reflect modern glasshouse facilities so that experiments or trials can mimic commercial practice.

A full range of irrigation facilities are on offer including mist, drip and hand watering. For small container grown plants, moveable benches with ebb and flow tops are available. Both high pressure sodium and LED lighting is available for use, depending on the research required and screens are also available for night break lighting or sun-shading. There are nine climate-controlled compartments with heating and cooling facilities and fitted with black out blinds. Coupled with LED lighting, scientists are able to set up experiments in these compartments to control light and temperature.

We have seven growth rooms in total, all of which have independently controlled environmental conditions that range in size from 10-20m2. These growth rooms are controlled by a cloud based ‘Trend’ Building Management System (BMS).

Temperatures can be controlled between 15-38°C, but there is also one vernalisation chamber where plants can be held in cooler conditions ranging from 6-21°C where there is also supplementary lighting available. Broad spectrum LED lighting is available to control plant growth, allowing for deep light penetration. High-tech humidity control is also available to provide uniform growing environments. The growth rooms facility is ‘Containment Level 2’ which allows for licenced pathogen work. This facility also has a laboratory.