Research contracts for Lincoln College

Press, 2 March 1984, Page 19

Research contracts for Lincoln College

Experiments in growing lentils under irrigation in Canterbury to determine the potential for the crop are among research to be carried out under contract to the D.S.I.R. by Lincoln College. New research contracts, totalling nearly $120,000, were announced by the acting principal, Professor R. H. M. Langer, at a meeting of the Lincoln College Council. Five of the 10 contracts awarded to the college are from the D.S.I.R. and provide the college with $104,860 towards research. Nearly $30,000 of this is for the lentil research, to be carried out by the Plant Science Department, and supervised by Professor J. G. H. White and Mr G. D. Hill. Current recommendations are that lentils should be

sown in the autumn, but good yields have been obtained from irrigated spring-sown crops. Lentils have the potential for export, and there have been some good crops in Canterbury. Plant Science has also been awarded a contract worth $22,550 for research into the growth and yield of barley. Professor White will also supervise the barley research, along with Dr J. N. Gallagher. The second largest contract, worth $24,900, has gone to Professor R. S. Swift, of the Soil Science Department, for a study of humic substances. Professor A. P. Mulcock and Dr M. J. Noonan, of the Microbiology Department, will supervise a $23,800 contract for research into honey disease of grass grub larvae.