Scottish VI Champions meet for training

07 May 2025

The Scottish Voluntary Initiative Champions met with other industry leaders at the James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie for a day of training and to visit the new International Barley Hub

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At the end of April, at a meeting organised by the Voluntary Initiative (VI) and NFUS, six of the seven Scottish VI Champions were able to join staff from the VI and NFUS as well as a number of representatives from the Scottish Agricultural industry (representatives from SQC and a PPP manufacturer).  Blessed with sunshine, the group enjoyed a series of talks in the morning followed by a field visit after lunch.

The programme consisted of:

10.30am Dr Tim George, Director at International Barley Hub (IBH) gave an overview of the hub and it’s links to Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

11am, Voluntary Initiative (VI) – Dr Neal Evans gave an overview of the VI's history, strategy and current UK activity and Amy Geddes (VI Scottish Chair) talked about Scottish VI activity, touching upon the recently published Pesticide National Action Plan.

11.30  - 1pm Communication and personal development training – Delivered by Anna Davies (Scene & Herd Public Relations), focussed on the communication of key messages on IPM and the sustainable use of plant protection products and how different techniques ca be used to convey positive messages.

1pm lunch

1.30pm - 2.30pm JHI plant pathologist and crop protection specialist - Lorena Rangel took us out to explain about a long-term experiment being done on the barley disease Ramularia.  Lorena also distributed a very interesting PowerPoint presentation that explained some of the IPM work being done at The James Hutton Institute.

2.30 -3pm Closing remarks and an outline of next steps from Amy Geddes.

The whole day was very positive with some robust discussion around the role of the VI, interaction with NFUS (a major VI sponsor) and the importance of continual personal development (CPD) for NRoSO (National Register of Sprayer Operators) members, the NSTS (National Sprayer Testing Scheme) and encouraging farmers and operators to complete IPM Plans.

The VI will organise similar regional meetings for some of the VI Champions south of the border in the near future.

The 42 current VI Champions are a team of experienced and passionate growers and advisers who provide knowledge and peer-to-peer learning, driving home the VI’s emphasis on IPM and best practice us of PPPs. 

Further details on this free resource for agriculture and the water sector can be found here.