| On Topic
Farming ideas to reduce flooding
The potential for farmers to play a role in fighting flooding – while also improving their own crop yield – has come under
the spotlight at a unique festival of innovation.
esearch currently being carried
out by Durham University was
picked up at Northumbrian
Water’s NWG Innovation
Festival by a team looking at
new ways to tackle flooding.
Hundreds of people, experts from
organisations across the globe, gathered to
find solutions to a range of challenges facing us
all.
Festival goers split into six groups, led by
headline sponsors IBM, Microsoft, CGI Group,
Ordnance Survey, BT and Reece Innovation,
each spending a week tackling a specific social
or environmental issue. The NWG Innovation
Festival took place at Newcastle Racecourse
with delegates travelling from as far as the US
R
12 | Farming Monthly | August 2017
and Hong Kong to take part.
Joined by people from a range of
businesses, academia and members of the
public, IBM and Northumbrian Water were
looking at the issue of flooding and were
inspired by the Durham University presentation.
Chris Jones, Research and Development
Manager at Northumbrian Water, said:
“Reducing the risk of flooding is a major priority
for Northumbrian Water. We understand how
devastating it can be for the people affected,
which is why we made it a focus for the people
attending the NWG Innovation Festival.
“We’ve worked with Durham University in the
past and been involved in their trials using by-
products from water treatment to reduce
flooding and believe there is real potential in
taking that forward.
“The way we have managed the land over
the last 60 years has essentially taken more out
of the land than it has put in. The intense
farming that has taken place has left us with
soil that is of a poorer quality, but we have an
opportunity to look at how we can rectify that.
“By using the by-products from water
treatment alongside compost, in a process
being trialled o