Oak Park - Research
Our Research
The Oak Park experimental programme is organised through four main research areas:
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Crop Sciences and Alternative Crop Uses
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Plant Biotechnology
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Plant Pathology & Entomology
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Plant Breeding
Crop Sciences and Alternative Crop Uses
The focus of the Crop Science research programme is to
develop more efficient production systems for the major
arable field crops – cereals, sugar-beet, potatoes, field
beans and oil seed rape. Field studies are carried out on
such aspects as plant establishment, plant population, time
of sowing, nitrogen nutrition, and plant/soil relationships.
The potential of non-traditional crops such as linseed, sunflower and lupin is also examined. The impact of mechanisation systems on production margins and soil/crop responses is also being studied. More fundamental studies on factors affecting plant growth and development are carried out in field and controlled environment conditions.
Non-food uses of traditional and new crops are also investigated. To date the non-food programme has focussed on; the use of cereals as a feedstock for ethanol production, the use of vegetable oil as vehicle fuel, the use of arable energy crops and straw as heating fuels and the feasibility of production and combustion of pellets from straw and energy crops.
Additional research is focussed on the second generation of liquid bio-fuels which will focus on the conversion of lingo-cellulose to ethanol or other fuel by biological or thermal processes. It is envisaged that the facilities being developed in the on-going bio-fuels programme will be expanded to include all the thermal processes.
Plant Biotechnology
Research in plant molecular biology / biotechnology is
concentrating on using molecular technologies to enhance the
productivity, quality and safety of the major crops used for
food and animal feed in Ireland. The research employs
enabling technologies such as gene mapping, gene markers and
transformation to enhance the ongoing Teagasc programmes in
plant breeding, disease, and pest control.
The main priorities at
present are centred on improving the productivity of
perennial ryegrass, disease and pest resistance in potatoes,
diagnosis of diseases and pests in cereals and determining
the agronomic performance of genetically modified crops and
their possible impact on the environment.
<More info>
Potato Genome Website
Plant Pathology and Entomology
Sustainable solutions to the problems of pests and diseases,
which can cause heavy crop losses, are the subject of the
Plant Pathology and Entomology based research programme. The
current programme is seeking to develop integrated disease
and pest management programmes which reduce dependence on
agrochemicals. Efficacy testing of agrochemicals, work on
pathogen resistance and the development of novel methods for
disease diagnosis are also carried out.
Potato Blight Map - Latest Update
(PDF Format 115KB)
Plant Breeding
Potato breeding seeks a balanced combination of high yield
along with good quality and durable disease resistance in
new varieties for both domestic and export markets. Oak Park
has established an extensive field trials system in Ireland,
the U.K. and Mediterranean countries with some of the more
successful varieties including: Cara, Colleen, Slaney,
Rooster and Balmoral.
Grass and clover breeding at
Oak Park is directed towards developing new varieties with
high yield, good quality and increased persistency. The main
emphasis is given to perennial ryegrass and white clover.
Successful varieties include the ryegrass Millenium, Cashel,
Greengold and white clovers Aran, Avoca and Chieftain and
Susi.
