Dr Alec Forsyth explains the need to address plant-blindness in education.

Global events and a changing climate have demonstrated the importance of horticulture to the UK’s economy, green infrastructure ambitions and food security. Yet the sector faces a well-documented skills gap.

I recently spoke to BBC Radio 4 about research I and others have undertaken looking at plant science education, and our findings that imply a worrying trend of ‘plant-blindness’ – where courses are unintentionally biased against plants, over-looking their value.

Only one in seven of biology courses at universities say that they study plants. If you consider that biology is about living organisms, you could argue that plants make up a substantial proportion of that.  People are not getting a broad plant education, which means we don’t have a plant literate or plant aware workforce; we’re lacking people with the basic understanding, knowledge or even awareness of what a career in plants, plant biology or horticulture could be. This situation is detrimental to encouraging people into the sector.

We need to talk with industry to hear about what they’re looking for, or what issues they are finding and put together a new strategy around how we educate people going forward and ensure that we can plug these skills and knowledge gaps.

If we’re going to ensure the UK has food-security, tackle climate change, combat pests and diseases, or develop farming systems that use water better we need graduates who are knowledgeable and understand plant breeding and physiology. People who are motivated to develop new sustainable crops that can thrive in a changing climate; translating research into practice.

Here at CCCU we have embedded core skills and employability throughout our degrees, working with key employers in the field to support that pipeline of talented and dedicated graduates, especially in our current Plant Science degree. If we as a sector do not address these skills and knowledge shortcomings, we will fail to address the future needs of the UK.

Dr Alec Forsyth FRSB, is Principal Lecturer in Plant Science and Chair of the SCI Horticulture Group.

He will be a guest speaker at an upcoming online webinar for the SCI’s Horticulture Group – Higher Educational needs for a flourishing horticultural industry.