We showed that the minimum area of crops at risk of sulphur deficiency is now 70% for oilseed rape and 50% for cereals. Some 50% and 25% of these respective crop areas now receive sulphur, saving in excess of the £30M per annum estimated by H-GCA at the last IAE. We have developed the malate:sulphate ratio test for sulphur deficiency. This is now in commercial use in partnership with Hill Court Farm Research and explained in H-GCA Topic Sheet No 66, 'Diagnosing and correcting S deficiency in wheat and rape', and Kemira leaflet 'Growing Together', Issue 18, April 2003: 'Interpreting malate:sulphate test results'.

Sulphur deficiency (pale leaves) on the Broadbalk Experiment

Members have given several TV interviews: on the 'Nitrates Problem' for the Today programme; on nutrient management on dairy farms for Galician Television, and on catchment management and the need for long-term data acquisition for Norwegian Television. Popular articles are written regularly for inclusion in the Defra R & D Bulletin and BBSRC News as well as for the IGER Innovations, the Rothamsted Research Association newsletter and the farming press.

We co-ordinate the Nematology Initiative in Eastern and Southern Africa (NIESA) with support from nematologists in the University of Reading and CABI Biosciences, which aims to build capacity in plant nematology research and the awareness of nematode problems in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe, funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. Under the UK-India Education and Research Initiative we have received support for a 4-year project to study multitrophic interactions in the rhizosphere and the impact of root health on water use efficiency in crops, in collaboration with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. The initiative will involve student training and postdoc exchanges in both directions.