ECRR > Member organisations > Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture

Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture

Aims

• Ensuring the quality of seeds and tubers for planting, and new crop varieties;
• Keeping field and horticultural crops free of damaging diseases;
• Acting as the Scottish Government's Inspectorate for genetically-modified crops;
• Developing new and more sensitive diagnostic tests for pests and diseases;
• Preserving and maintaining a wide range of historic, heritage and other varieties of potatoes, cereals, peas and brassicas;
• Monitoring the pesticide load in our diet, and the pattern of use of pesticides in Scotland;
• Protecting wildlife against deliberate or accidental poisoning;
• Understanding the ecology of important vertebrate species (e.g. rabbits, foxes, geese).

Organisation

SASA's work can be viewed under the following headings:

• Genetic modification ;
• Pesticides & Wildlife;
• Plant Health;
• Plant Variety Testing;
• Seed Potatoes;
• Seed Testing & Certification;

Training

Training is provided and courses run on a range of topics in which SASA has expertise, including:

• Cereal taxonomy;
• Seed analysis/ disease assessment;
• Potato crop and tuber inspection.

For further information, please contact: