Tag Archives: R&D

Engineers make wearable sensors for plants

Scientists at Iowa State University in the United States are developing graphene-based, sensors-on-tape that can be attached to plants and can provide data to researchers and farmers about water use in crops.

The tool, dubbed a “plant tattoo sensor” by researchers, is a tiny graphene sensor that can be taped to plants. Graphene is a carbon honeycomb which is just an atom thick, and is great at conducting electricity and heat, as well as being strong and stable. The graphene-on-tape technology has also been used to produce wearable strain and pressure sensors, including sensors built into a “smart glove” that measures hand movements.

“This fabrication process is very simple,” says lead developer Liang Dong. “You just use tape to manufacture these sensors. The cost is just cents.” In the case of plant studies, the sensors are made with graphene oxide, a material very sensitive to water vapour. The presence of water vapour changes the conductivity of the material, and that can be quantified to accurately measure transpiration from a leaf.

The plant sensors have been successfully tested in lab and pilot field experiments, and a new three-year, $472,363 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative will support more field testing.

Photo Caption: Iowa State University researchers have developed these “plant tattoo sensors” to take real-time, direct measurements of water use in crops.

Photo Credit: Liang Dong/Iowa State University

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Sainsbury’s wants new product ideas from produce suppliers

Sainsbury’s has asked its suppliers to bring forward ideas for new products and innovations as it tries to differentiate itself in the marketplace.

Speaking at the retailer’s annual Farming Conference, Produce technologist Lily Peck said her remit is to “look for something different.”

She added, “Any great ideas you have, talk to your technical manager about it and help us differentiate our range.” She cited the launch of bunched radishes (supplied by G’s grower Scott Watson) and sweet-stemmed cauliflower as particular successes.

However, the retailer also confirmed that a major overhaul of suppliers is continuing as the company aims to have ‘fewer and longer-term relationships,’ shifting towards direct grower sourcing.

Sainsbury’s director of brand Judith Batchelar said, “While our competitors will have been buying their own packaging facilities and performing that part in the value chain themselves, the way we’ve looked at it is much more direct relationships with growers.”

Product Manager Sarah Blandford described a three-year project with potato supplier Greenvale to improve production efficiencies: “We had four times as many potato growers as we needed for our 52-week supply requirements. We had some fantastic growers and we had some good growers.” She added that Sainsbury’s looks for suppliers who are proactively monitoring things like yield potential.

Photo Caption: Sainsbury’s Product Manager Sarah Blandford

Photo Credit: Richard Crowhurst

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New mating disruption technique offers hope for Tuta absoluta control

Trials funded by AHDB Horticulture have discovered a synthetic sex pheromone that confuses male Tuta absoluta moths so they can’t find females to mate with. The chemical, Isonet-T, offers new hope to commercial tomato growers for control of the devastating pest.

In the trials the mating disruption technique led to complete population control with no visible crop damage during the first 22 weeks when placed amongst plants on arrival in glasshouses. At the same time, growers adapting the research for their own trials also experienced exceptional results with pest population growth stopping immediately.

Richard Bezemer, Cleveland Nurseries, who participated in the trials said, “We experienced severe Tuta absoluta populations in 2016 for the first time. The trials have been so successful in our nursery that we now believe we are completely free of the pest and the cost of the pheromone off-set investment in other control products.”

Gracie Emeny, knowledge exchange manager at AHDB Horticulture, added, “We thought Tuta absoluta was under control but it came back with a vengeance in the 2016 season after developing resistance to one of the key plant protection products used in integrated pest management programmes. This is a brilliant breakthrough for the industry but we would stress the need for careful use to make sure this control option stays available to growers for the long term.”

Further work is now underway at University of Exeter, to study the impact of the technique on female moth reproduction.

Photo Caption: Tuta absoluta

Photo Credit: Rob Jackson / AHDB Horticulture

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Combating weeds with lasers

Researchers from the University of Bonn in Germany are working in a system which would automatically identify weeds and then destroy them using a short laser pulse.

Dr. Julio Pastrana and Tim Wigbels from the Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation at the University of Bonn are currently developing a novel system which uses cameras on an all-terrain robot vehicle, or which could be mounted on a tractor add-on. They say that unwanted weed species should be automatically identified in a variety of crops and treated in a targeted way.

“The robot shoots the leaves of the unwanted plants with short laser pulses, which causes a weakening in their vitality,” reports Dr. Pastrana.

“We predict that we will no longer need to use herbicides on our fields and the environment will be protected,” adds Wigbels. “It is now a case of finding investors and further developing the business plan for the start-up.”

The researchers are now developing a new start-up company ‘Escarda Technologies’ for one year at the University of Bonn with an EXIST grant from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, and the researchers are also using the funding to buy the parts needed to construct a prototype.

Photo Caption: Tim Wigbels (left) and Dr. Julio Pastrana (right) with their weed recognition software which is detecting a plant and how the laser system is shooting and damage its foliage.

Photo Credit: Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

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Waitrose looking for food innovation

Waitrose has joined forces with its sister company John Lewis to create the UK’s largest retail tech accelerator: JLAB 2017.

The announcement came as the John Lewis Partnership opened the call for applications for JLAB 2017, its global start-up accelerator programme, which is run in association with innovation specialists L Marks. Now in its fourth year, this year’s JLAB sees Waitrose joining the programme, which this year is focusing on enhancing customer experience and is inviting early-stage and high-growth companies.

A new category of Amazing Food Experiences has been added, with the application website saying, “There is a growing potential to enhance customer experience in food shopping and food service. We are looking for start-ups which will help us serve food to our customers in more convenient, exciting and innovative ways.”

Throughout the twelve-week programme, which commences in July, applicants will receive support from senior level mentors and free workspace in John Lewis’s head office in Victoria and Waitrose’s head office in Bracknell. Participating companies will also have access to industry knowledge and expertise from across the John Lewis Partnership.

Start-ups participating in JLAB will also have access to capital from the dedicated microfund provided by the John Lewis Partnership and L Marks. Each team will be eligible to apply for funding of up to £100,000 from the total pot of £200,000, in exchange for equity in their company.

Photo Caption: Waitrose is looking to enhance the customer experience in food shopping

Photo Credit: Waitrose

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Breakthrough in environmentally friendly pesticides

A ‘new generation’ of environmentally friendly pesticides is a step closer thanks to researchers and an insect-killing fungus.

Molecular virologists Dr Robert Coutts from the University of Hertfordshire and Dr Ioly Kotta-Loizou from Imperial College London are investigating the potential of Beauveria bassiana as an environmentally friendly bio-insecticide

B. bassiana, which is found naturally in soil and on some plants, can kill a wide range of insects, including whiteflies, aphids, grasshoppers and termites, by infecting them with its spores. Unlike some other fungal insecticides, the work is specifically researching the viral community of B. bassiana. This has lead to the discovery that certain mycoviruses (viruses that infect fungi) cause hypervirulence and increase mycoinsecticidal efficiency.

Dr Coutts said, “This discovery is potentially transformational for the sector and could elevate the profile of B. bassiana as one of the most environmentally friendly pest control agents for farmers today. This would safeguard ecosystems internationally, especially where the use of chemical insecticides is particularly prevalent. By using viruses as enhancers we will create a new generation of improved mycoinsecticides, increasing the quality of global food production and reducing the environmental impact.”

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons.

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New seed breeding technique reported

According to reports, scientists from Syngenta have published details of a breakthrough seed breeding process in the international scientific journal Nature.

It is believed that the technique of haploid induction could significantly speed up breeding. Although initially based around corn (maize) crops, with the mechanism triggered by a defect in an enzyme coded by the Matrilineal (MTL) gene, the work could have wide implications.

“Successful haploid induction is an often painstaking and costly process,” said Tim Kelliher, principal scientist, reproduction biology at Syngenta and lead author of the paper. “But this research is an important step in showing how gene editing can help us breed plants that produce higher yields, on a much more efficient time frame.”

“We know that investment in gene editing and crop genetics can help us create significant progress toward sustainable intensification of agriculture,” said Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, head of Seeds Research at Syngenta. “To be recognized by the scientific community for this work illustrates its importance to innovation in agriculture. It is a true honour and testament to the quality of our scientists.”

Photo Caption: The study identified the causes of haploid induction in corn

Photo Credit: Public Domain Pictures

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NIAB EMR consortium wins crop research funding

An industry consortium, led by Berry Gardens Growers Ltd (BGG) and NIAB EMR, has won a BBSRC collaborative training partnership (CTP) award to provide a £1.9 million postgraduate programme for scientific research on fruit crops.

The programme, which will be based at NIAB EMR in Kent and run from October 2017 to September 2023, includes 16 four-year PhD studentships in core research areas such as plant breeding, plant pathology, entomology, soil science, plant physiology and crop agronomy.

Dr Nicola Harrison, NIAB EMR CTP science co-ordinator, said, “The CTP award will help us produce an innovative and exceptional postgraduate research training programme that will engage and train the next generation of scientists to deliver strategic research that will help secure the future of UK horticulture. Researchers from Cambridge, Nottingham and Reading, and colleagues at NIAB EMR, will produce a research portfolio that ensures the translation of cutting-edge research through to the wider industry.”

The industry partners forming the consortium span the supply chain and include Berry Gardens Growers Ltd, Worldwide Fruit Ltd, M&W Mack Ltd, Univeg UK Ltd, and the National Association of Cider Makers, as well as Marks & Spencer plc. The over-arching knowledge exchange capability is provided by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

BGG’s Richard Harnden said, “This pioneering partnership between businesses, research providers and AHDB will provide a world-class horticultural and bioscience UK research training programme to address the scientific challenges faced by agri-businesses, from crop production, food quality and supply, through to consumer preference and reducing waste in the supply chain.”

Photo Caption: East Malling will be the base for the new students

Photo Credit: NIAB EMR

This story first appeared on HortNews.

UK research institutes collaborate on crop rotation

AHDB’s Potatoes and Horticulture sectors have teamed up with AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds to fund four new projects looking at the overall effects of soil health throughout crop rotation.

In total £1.2 million has been awarded to the interrelated projects will form a five-year programme of research to help farmers and agronomists optimise soil and water management decisions and plan environmentally and economically beneficial rotations.

Dr Mike Storey, AHDB Head of Resource Management, said,“There has been a lot of work on the impact of soil conditions, cultivations and management on individual crop performance but we believe this new programme is unique in its scale and ambition. This research will generate new data and knowledge to answer challenges across whole rotations and provide information and tools to allow farm businesses to make rewarding and sustainable rotational decisions.”

The partnership is led by NIAB CUF, with Rothamsted Research, the James Hutton Institute and Lancaster University, but includes 14 other organisations including Aarhus University, Vegetable Consultancy Services, Cambridge University Potato Growers Research Organisation, Grimme (UK), Kettle Produce, Greenvale AP and Frederick Hiam.

Photo Caption: Dr Mike Storey

Photo Credit: AHDB

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Scientists implant slugs with trackers

Scientists at Harper Adams University are implanting slugs with tracking devices in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the important crop pests.

The researchers are hoping to prove a theory that, rather than being evenly distributed across fields, slug populations are focused in patches. Knowing this would help improve control strategies.

The slugs are anaesthetised before a small cut is made in the skin and the tracker, which is smaller than a grain of rice, is inserted. Once released, the slugs can be tracked, even underground, using a device which looks similar to a metal detector.

Funding for this study has come from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), which estimates that slugs can cause £100m of damage to UK crops if they aren’t properly controlled.

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

The post Scientists implant slugs with trackers appeared first on Hort News on 26 February 2016.