QUOATS is a collaborative research project that brings together the whole of the oat production chain including breeders, crop marketeers, levy boards and industrial end users. The project combines expertise in molecular and conventional plant breeding and analysis of grain composition with evaluation of new and novel varieties by research and industrial partners to develop oat varieties that meet the requirements of the different end users.
The project will develop oats that,
• meet the needs of the milling industry and are tailor-made for the healthy foods market
• provide a high energy animal feed that may also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from animal production
• provide important platform chemicals for the plastics, cosmetics and food industry
And enhance the potential of oats as:
• a healthy human food
• a high energy animal feedstuff
• a source of high value compounds for industrial use
• a low input cereal which fits well into cereal and grassland rotations
For more information about the project, visit the QUOATS website:
www.quoats.org
Project partners
ADAS, Bernard Matthews, British Oat and Barley Millers' Association, Du Pont, G B Seeds, Halo Foods, Harper Adams University College, Mole Valley Feed Solutions, Nairns Oatcakes, Oat Services, Organic Research Centre - Elm Farm, Phytatec, Poultry Xperience, Scottish Crop Research Institute, Senova and the DairyCo, EBLEX and HGCA divisions of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)
The QUOATS project, led by Aberystwyth University (IBERS), is jointly sponsored by BBSRC, by Defra through the Sustainable Arable LINK Programme, by European Regional Development Funding through the Welsh Assembly Government’s Academic Expertise for Business Programme and through the Scottish Government Contract Research Fund.