Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

New variety of blackcurrant beats warmer winters curse

The first harvest of the Ben Lawers, developed by the James Hutton Institute, is now under way
The first harvest of the Ben Lawers, developed by the James Hutton Institute, is now under way

Thousands of tonnes of juicy Ben Lawers, the brand new blackcurrant variety which has been bred to cope with Britain’s changing climate, are being shaken into harvesting machines across the country this week.

The first harvest of 75,000 Ben Lawers blackcurrant bushes in fields from the outskirts of Dundee to Somerset and Kent is the culmination of 20 years of research by the James Hutton Institute (JHI) which aims to ensure the crop is productive despite increasingly warmer winters.

Blackcurrants need a winter chill to bear fruit come summertime, prompting Lucozade Ribena Suntory (LRS), which uses 90% of Britain’s blackcurrants to make Ribena, to invest £10 million in JHI research on the new variety which is able to adapt to shorter, milder chilling.

Dr Dorota Jarret, a soft fruit breeder at the James Hutton Institute’s commercial subsidiary, James Hutton Ltd, said: “Hopefully this cultivar will pioneer innovation in climate-resilient crop category, deliver exceptional quality and make the way for further climate-resilient cultivars that are currently on trials at the James Hutton Institute thanks to Lucozade Ribena Suntory’s recent investment.”

Andy Husband from East Adamston Farm, Dundee said: “We are in need of varieties that can adapt to the climate, have better disease resistance and are still delicious, which is why we are proud to say that the new Ben Lawers variety is helping to provide a strong harvest this year.

“By growing and developing more breeds like this we will be able to keep sustainable blackcurrant growing in Scotland.”

Blackcurrants have been bred at JHI since 1956 and the institute’s varieties now account for around half of all the blackcurrants grown in the world, and have an estimated 95% market share in the UK.