| Education
from left to right - John Farmer, Commercial Manager
for Horticulture, MEP Anthea McIntyre, Pershore
College Director, Sharon Bell and Prof Roy Kennedy
Pershore College hosts MEP visit
Conservative MEP for the West Midlands Anthea McIntyre, recently enjoyed a tour of Pershore College and its state-of-
the-art agri-tech facilities.
n Thursday 2 August, Pershore
College hosted the visit to
discuss the benefits of agri-tech
and how it is responding to the
skills shortage within the
agriculture and horticulture
sectors within Worcestershire.
Anthea was given a tour of the facility by
Pershore College Director Sharon Bell and Roy
Kennedy, professor in agri-tech research and
development, which showcased the dedicated
agri-tech laboratories that are used to educate
students and businesses on the modern
applications of this innovative sector.
Pershore College’s Agri-Tech Centre was
completed in 2017 with the support of funding
from Worcestershire LEP. The investment has
enabled the college to develop and deliver a
programme of support for schools to raise
awareness of agriculture and horticulture as
high-tech, highly-skilled industries, in order to
encourage more young people to consider a
career within these sectors.
Sharon Bell said: “We were delighted to host
Anthea at Pershore College, and explain that
not only are we are able to offer superb training
facilities, but also talk about the work we do
O
with local growers on pioneering research trials
to tackle key industry challenges facing the
sector.”
MEP for the West Midlands, Anthea McIntyre,
said: “I am passionate about advances in
agricultural technology to boost food security,
productivity and sustainability, so it was
wonderful to see the superb work being done
in this direction by Prof Roy Kennedy, his
academic team and the students at Pershore
College.
"Their activity is at the cutting edge and the
facilities provided in the new Agri-Tech Centre
are exciting. I was particularly impressed by the
facilities and research covering hydroponics,
but the whole set-up is excellent and this is
exactly the kind of advanced application of
technology that should be embraced by
governments across the EU.”
The Pershore College Agri-tech Centre
houses electronic, robotic and computer-based
technologies that are used to educate and train
students and local employers on modern
applications of agri-tech.These technologies
are deployed across the centre’s growing areas
to experiment, test and demonstrate innovation
and automation across a wide variety of
48 | Farming Monthly | September 2018
settings.
The Agri-technology (Food Production and
Plant Science) course is designed to address
current and pressing skills shortages in
agriculture and horticulture that act as a barrier
to innovation and growth for this important
sector in Worcestershire.
“We were delighted to host Anthea at
Pershore College, and explain that not only
are we are able to offer superb training
facilities, but also talk about the work we do
with local growers on pioneering research
trials to tackle key industry challenges
facing the sector”
The laboratory, live field-based
experimentation and demonstration facility
enable the college, local horticultural
businesses and students to work together to
meet the challenges of food and plant
production with the latest agricultural
technologies.
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