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Modern plant breeding is an increasingly sophisticated, high-investment business. The cost of maintaining a typical wheat-breeding programme is estimated to be around £1.5million per annum. The majority of commercial plant breeding takes place within the private sector. Plant breeding work is also carried out in a limited number of research institutes.
The plant breeding sector employs around 5,000 people. It is represented by the British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) , which has over 50 member organisations made up of research institutes, companies that actively breed in the UK, and breeders' agents who represent varieties from continental breeders in the UK.
Government agricultural research agencies include a number of institutes funded or grant-aided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) , the Scottish Government Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate (RERAD) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) . These include:
Breeding work in these institutes is also funded and undertaken by the commercial firms represented by the BSPB and the Department for International Development (DFID) also funds some work.
Warwick Horticultural Research International (Warwick HRI) is the main UK-based organisation responsible for horticultural research and development (R&D) and for communicating these results to industry.
In the future, plants could be developed into 'biological factories' to harvest custom proteins and materials such as commercially valuable chemicals, vaccines, drugs, biodragdable plastics and biofuels. This is likely to lead to increased opportunities for employment within a range of biotechnology companies. However, these roles are likely to be slightly different from the role of a plant breeder/geneticist.
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The British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) list of members is a source of contact details you can use to enquire about student placements or for making speculative applications. Most BSPB members advertise vacancies on their own company website.
Recruitment agencies sometimes handle vacancies, e.g. MorePeople .
See also job hunting tips and applications, CVs and interviews.
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