Electrolyzed Water in Crop Protection (EWCROP)

The EWCROP project will demonstrate an innovative, pesticide free crop treatment using electrolysed water (EW) to reduce disease & pest burdens on high value crops, lowering the use of various inputs and energy and improving crop yields. This is designed to provide a new non-polluting, carbon and water reducing mechanism to ensure high crop yields even as traditional pesticides are being withdrawn due to EU legislation or becoming ineffective due to pathogen resistance. EWCROP will demonstrate these benefits in high value horticultural crops such as tomatoes, lettuce and potatoes, but its benefits will ultimately extend to a broad range of glasshouse and field grown crops. The project will support the whole UK agri-food industry, protecting some of the 3.7 million jobs and £91B GVA created by this sector. The project will involve partners who are leaders in building and testing an EW production and delivery system combining novel EW production, spray delivery systems and scientifically managed crop experiments & trials. As well as building the EW delivery system, the EWCROP project will evaluate and optimise its efficacy on a variety of crop and pathogen species.