Crop Production in the East of Scotland - SASA

Introduction1. INTRODUCTIONThe ICSC Satellite Workshop on “CropProduction under Cool Long Days” atNewbattle in August 2000, was planned tostimulate discussion and study of strategiesfor the future use of such areas, taking theEast of Scotland as a case-study, and toexplore the roles crop scientists might playin these strategies. Although this handbookwas initially compiled to provide a contextfor the workshop, and to ensure thatdelegates could make good use of the dayvisit, it was intended from the outset that itshould be used more widely as anintroduction to the cropping systems of thearea.Winter Wheat on alluvial soil (former saltmarshes),Duffus Castle, near Forres, Laich of MorayIn Northern Europe, there are substantialagricultural areas north of 55ºN which,owing to the warming influence of theNorth Atlantic Drift, experience cool (notcold) long days during the growing season,and the absence of severe stress. Forexample, in Scotland, temperatures duringthe growing season are generally below20ºC, and photoperiod exceeds 15h for atleast 5 months. These factors, and agenerally high plant health status, cancombine to give very high yields of adaptedspecies. Although not very extensive on aglobal scale, these productive areas could,and should, make an important contributionto the increased levels of crop productionwhich will be needed to support a greatlyincreasedworld population in the 21stcentury. On the other hand, theprogressive effects of global climaticchange may have a serious impact onproductivity; and there will, undoubtedly, bemajor changes in the conditions of regionaland world trade.The East of Scotland: The Scopeof the HandbookWe have chosen to concentrate on thenear-continuous coastal strip from theEnglish Border to Inverness, with alandward boundary where the mean annualrainfall exceeds 1200 mm (Francis, 1981;Figure 1.1). In 1997, this geographic areasupported 94.4% of the total arablecropping area of Scotland, 90.2% of theset-aside, and 46.2% of the improvedgrassland (Table 4.2). The total area of landstudied here exceeds 1 million ha. The othereconomically-important areas of arablecropping in Scotland are mainly in Orkney,Caithness, Easter Ross and Ayrshire, butthese represent a small fraction of overallproduction.Starting from the English Border, the valleyof the Tweed (the Merse) is separated fromthe lowlands of East Lothian by theLammermuir Hills which reach the coastnear Dunbar. The strip of arable agriculturecontinues through Mid- and West Lothian,with a limited extension westwards alongthe Midland Valley. Northwards lie the7