Pesticide free global horticulture (via smart light controlling crop cover technology) (PURELIGHT)

Whilst the universal adoption of pesticides has provided previously unheard of improvements in crop yields evidence increasingly suggests multifaceted problems linked with long term exposure to these chemicals; issues spanning society, economy, environment & human health. Policy driven commercial pressure is therefore mounting to develop more sustainable solutions for the control of economically important pests & diseases in edible crops. Global agriculture is addressing this problem largely via genetic modification of crops for improved pest resistance but this approach that cannot be easily scaled for the diversity of high-value crops grown by global horticulture (fresh fruit & veg) even if consumers would accept it; which is far from certain. However, the fact that many horticultural crops are grown under protection (primarily plastic crop covers) offers a potential solution. Our unique research shows that crop pests and diseases rely on the presence of very specific wavelengths of sunlight to function, reproduce and spread & the removal of these wavelengths from the growing crop provides levels of control comparable to chemical pesticides. To bring this technology to the global horticultural industry we first need to develop a cost effective, highly stable and wavelength specific light absorber capable of being integrated into current crop cover manufacturing processes which does not currently exist. This project seeks to develop and test such an absorber with the aim of revolutionising pest control in global horticulture and building lucrative markets for our absorber product in the global crop cover industry.