The project helps improve our understanding of the virus transmission pathways, to reduce the devastating impact of sugar beet virus yellows on yield and to inform policy around the use of seed treatments.

Key Facts

    • Sugar beet is grown on 100,000 ha of arable land in the UK, meeting half of domestic sugar demand
    • Yields are threatened by virus yellows (VY) transmitted by aphids, where permitted, managed by neonicotinoid seed treatments which are harmful to the environment.
    • Remote sensing can track the progression of the disease, elucidating risk factors and enabling alternative management strategies to be established.
    • Sponsor: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC): Molecules to Landscapes (BB/X005240/1) with Rothamsted Research and additional support from British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO).

Impact of our research

Recent derogations for the emergency use neonicotinoid seed treatment were only a temporary UK policy measure, considered after the devastating loss of 25% of the national sugar beet yield in 2020. Since then, they have been permitted if the Rothamsted model predicts VY incidence of 65% or more (triggered in 2022, 2023, 2024). Our research showed knowledge of land use and crop rotation planning, alongside field-based molecular tools and remote sensing monitoring to detect VY early, could help reduce the virus risk in the landscape without the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, minimising the financial impact on farmers and the sugar industry.

Why the research was commissioned

The project addresses how the threats to sugar beet can be better understood and mitigated. Focusing on 'non-crop' plant hosts that act as a virus reservoir for each virus type the project is tracking the virus spread under field conditions from multispectral drone sensors to underpin the next generation of models to provide more accurate forecasting and hence, support better management decisions. Supported by a wealth of virus incidence data collected by Rothamsted and using expertise at Cranfield, we use satellite imagery to estimate the threat posed by the network of nearby oilseed rape crops and characterise the extent of field margins, a potential source of VY, measuring the spillover of VY into the adjacent crop. A bioeconomic model, led by Bristol, was used to capture a grower's management decisions under different land use and payment options.

Why Cranfield?

The Cranfield team have more than 20 years鈥� experience in land resources monitoring using remote sensing. We bring insights to agri-environmental issues through the novel integration of remote sensing, ground survey, data science and statistical analysis. In this project, our expertise helps explain how the VY transmission pathway functions locally and at scale and will show how improved land use and crop rotation planning based on this knowledge could potentially reduce the virus risk.

Facilities used

Cranfield’s multi/hyperspectral drones, image analysis software and the services of our professional drone pilot.