SYIELD:Networked Mimic Sensors for Crop Enhancement & Disease Control
Lead Research Organisation:
Rothamsted Research
Department Name: Plant Biology & Crop Science
Abstract
The project will enable growers to produce more food from fewer inputs, through an integrated farm management strategy which optimises the mode-of-action for Crop Protection (CP) chemistries based upon local farm networks of in-field biosensors which then connect to form a UK, and international, INFRASTRUCTURE. Ideally, but not exclusively, this will be combined with the dual action DISEASE CONTROL and CROP ENHANCEMENT offered by a subset of CP chemistries. The science behind host / pathogen interaction will be exploited to engineer environmentally tolerant mimic surfaces which will trick the pathogen into germination on the sensor cartridge. This will occur at the same time or in advance of the disease progress in the bulk crop. The mimic surface, in conjunction with detection of specific factors from the pathogen, will form the basis of the biosensor specificity. Early adoption will be against Sclerotinia in UK Oil Seed Rape (OSR) integrated with Syngenta's dual-mode Amistar chemistry. UK technology companies will manufacture the in-field nodes, which house the disposable sensor cartridge, micro air-sampler, intelligent interface electronics & OEM telecoms modules. These will link, alongside satellite crop-usage data, to a GIS web portal accessible as a commercial service to; farmers, agronomists, government and other agri-food stakeholders. This integration of SENSOR-NETWORK and CP chemistries sets a global precedent for growers to increase their current ROI by 6-7 times at NO PERCEPTIBLE COST TO FARMERS, with corresponding additional UK productivity of 16.4M p.a. following a conservative adoption by 1/3rd of OSR farms.
Publications
Grieve B
(2019)
The challenges posed by global broadacre crops in delivering smart agri-robotic solutions: A fundamental rethink is required
in Global Food Security
Heard S
(2014)
Detection and Diagnostics of Plant Pathogens
West J
(2015)
Innovations in air sampling to detect plant pathogens.
in The Annals of applied biology
| Description | A patent was filed by Syngenta and has been published. The technology was tested in Canada in 2014 and shown to detect the pathogens, thereby indicating whether a fungicide spray was required on not. The results were very encouraging and the field trials in Canada were repeated in 2015 and 2016. |
| Exploitation Route | This new detection method for Sclerotina fungal spores can be used to further improve the understanding of the basic biology of this pathogen under field conditions. For example, the exact weather conditions which lead to spore release from the infected soil. The same technology could be applied to other pathogens where iut is known that they produce specific metabolites early during infection, for example Botrytis cinerea. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Environment |
| Description | Results presented at the Cereals event in 2013, 2014 and 2016. Field trials done by Syngenta in Canada in 2015 and 2016 to explore the accuracy of the new remote sensing technique to identify Sclerotinia infections in oilseed rape fields. These two years of field trials were successful. The patent filed by Syngenta has been published. Images of the disease presented in a photographic competition in Salford in 2015 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Economic |
| Description | Industrial-CASE BBSRC studentship with Syngenta_Steph Heard |
| Amount | £128,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2010 |
| End | 10/2014 |
| Description | InnovateUK (Blight Alert project) |
| Amount | £160,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 102099 (previous code 46178-329232) |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2015 |
| End | 09/2018 |
| Description | InnovateUK (SporeID project) |
| Amount | £90,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | Project 102104 (previous code 46056 - 329222) |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2015 |
| End | 09/2018 |
| Description | InnovateUK - Productive and sustainable crop and ruminant agricultural systems - Spraysaver project |
| Amount | £1,291,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 26757 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | Innovation Centres UK (CHAP) |
| Amount | £2,469,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2016 |
| End | 03/2018 |
| Description | Blight Alert InnovateUk project |
| Organisation | Burkard Manufacturing Co. Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Development of DNA-based diagnostics, automated air sampling device and new information on the epidemiology of potato blight |
| Collaborator Contribution | Engineering, communications, wifi, mathematical modelling |
| Impact | See my personal portfolio |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Blight Alert InnovateUk project |
| Organisation | James Hutton Institute |
| Department | Cell and Molecular Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Development of DNA-based diagnostics, automated air sampling device and new information on the epidemiology of potato blight |
| Collaborator Contribution | Engineering, communications, wifi, mathematical modelling |
| Impact | See my personal portfolio |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Monitoring Airborne Pathogens |
| Organisation | Syngenta International AG |
| Department | Syngenta Ltd (Bracknell) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Research and assessment of methods to process collected air samples for DNA-based detection of plant pathogens. Detection of genetic traits of plant pathogens such as fungicide resistance. A phenotyping method to assess virulence and fungicide sensitivity of obligate plant pathogens such as wheat powdery mildew and yellow rust. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of sampling sites |
| Impact | None yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Smart detection of airborne diseases in protected crops Waitros CTP PhD studentship |
| Organisation | University of Warwick |
| Department | Warwick Crop Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Supervision and provision of lab and plant growth facilities for PhD student, jointly with the Warwick Crop Centre and APS produce Ltd. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of access to commercial glasshouses (APS Produce Ltd), provision of seeds and diseased plant material and supervision; Provision of research glasshouse (Warwick crop centre) and isolates of fungal pathogens and supervision. |
| Impact | none yet |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | SporeID project |
| Organisation | Burkard Manufacturing Co. Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | development of isothermal DNA-based diagnostics, development of an automated spore trap, improved understanding of disease epidemiology, assessment of fungicide sensitivity |
| Collaborator Contribution | engineering, communications, diagnostics |
| Impact | see my personal portfolio |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | SporeID project |
| Organisation | University of Nottingham |
| Department | School of Life Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | development of isothermal DNA-based diagnostics, development of an automated spore trap, improved understanding of disease epidemiology, assessment of fungicide sensitivity |
| Collaborator Contribution | engineering, communications, diagnostics |
| Impact | see my personal portfolio |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Spraysaver InnovateUK project |
| Organisation | Burkard Manufacturing Co. Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We will co-develop new assays for detection of selected plant pathogens and apply them to an automated DNA-based detectyion system linked to an air sampling device, which will report results wirelessly. Partners are: Burkard, Worcestershire Colleges Group, HL Hutchinsons Ltd, Velcourt Ltd, Spearhead International, RSK ADAS Ltd. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of sites, stabilisation of reagents, engineering, electronics ,web-portal. |
| Impact | none yet |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | 11th International Congress of Aerobiology, 3-7 Sept 2018, Parma, Italy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Jon West made an invited keynote presentation at this international conference and also chaired another session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.eas-aerobiology.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ICA2018.pdf |
| Description | 2nd Annual Congress on Plant Science and Biosecurity, 11-13 July 2019, London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I chaired a session and also in a separate session made an invited keynote presentation entitled: DNA-based detection of airborne plant pathogens for enhanced disease forecasting |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://machprinciple.com/conference/12883/ACPB2019--2nd-Annual-Congress-on-Plant-Science--Biosecuri... |
| Description | AAB precision Agriculture conference October 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Jon West made an invited keynote presentation at the conference and this was associated with the following publication: West JS, Canning GGM, Perryman SA, Kaczmarek A, King KM (2017) Precision disease detection systems for agriculture and horticulture. Aspects of Applied Biology: Precision systems in agricultural and horticultural production v135, p1-8 (2017). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | ASPP Science Protecting Plant Health Conference, Brisbane Sept 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Jon West chaired a conference session and also made an invited presentation. West JS, Canning GGM, Kaczmarek A, King KM (2017) Comparison of rooftop and field-based air samplers for early detection and population monitoring of plant pathogens. Science Protecting Plant Health, 26-28 September 2017, Brisbane, Australia. Abstract Page 135. https://www.appsnet.org/publications/Brisbane_Presentations/West.pdf |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.appsnet.org/publications/Brisbane_Presentations/West.pdf |
| Description | Cereals 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Demonstration of new equipment developed in two InnovateUK and one AHDB project, secondly publicising the CroProtect project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Cereals 2018 13-14 June 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | At this large Farmer-focussed annual event, over two days, we presented and demonstrated new devices developed in our research, jointly with an industry partner (Burkard). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.cerealsevent.co.uk/ |
| Description | Crop Protection Association/Fresh Produce Consortium annual conference, Peterborough 23 January 2018 (invited presentation) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited presentation about Advances in pathogen detection, monitoring and forecasting. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://freshproduce.org.uk/media/694099/Briefing-Document-23-Jan.pdf |
| Description | Innovate in the East - Presentation 20 April 2018, (BT Adastral Park, Ipswich) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Jon West made a 15 minute presentation to an audience of about 80 people at this KTN event |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | International Congress of Plant Pathology, Boston, USA, 29 July-3 Aug 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Jon West co-organised and chaired a session and made a presentation at this international conference, which had over 2500 delegates. Video of presentation is at: https://www.apsnet.org/publications/Webinars/Pages/2018videos.aspx?LID=Paper3980.mp4 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.icpp2018.org/Pages/default.aspx |
| Description | LANDMARK article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Writing and publishing a specialist article on recent technical innovations JS West (2016) Spore Trapping at Rothamsted advances into the Internet age. NIAB-TAG LANDMARK Issue 27 (Sept 2016), p8-9. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | UKRI-UP-SIGN GCRF workshop 30th April & 1st May 2019, Swansea University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The event was a workshop to connect potential UK and Pakistan collaborators and to plan consortia for future GCRF funding calls |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | World Mycotoxin Forum, Amsterdam 12-14 March (invited presentation). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on near real-time detection f pathogen spores for disease risk alerts |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://worldmycotoxinforum.org/media/brochure%20WMF2018.pdf |