15AGRITECHCAT4: Third Generation Polyethylene Greenhouse Cladding Materials. NB: East Malling Research is an RTO at 100% FEC

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This project will develop a third generation of polyethylene cladding materials for use in greenhouses. The project exploits our fundamental understanding of the interactions between plants and light. Here we will optically modify the light incident upon a crop to drive commercial and environmental benefits to greenhouse producers. We will scatter ultra violet (UV) light to improve crop quality and minimise pest incidence, develop materials with directional photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) scattering to drive yield and reflect near infra red (NIR) radiation to control solar gain. These materials are low cost and could provide significant advantages to global greenhouse producers
This is a multi-disciplinary project engaging industry (British Polythene Industries plc, Haygrove Ltd, Finlays Ltd, Berry Garden Ltd and A Schulman Ltd) and academic partners (University of Reading (UoR), Chemistry and Agriculture, University of Lincoln (UoL), NCFM, Engineering and Architecture and the research organisation East Malling Research, (EMR)).
The UoR Chem will lead research to develop novel materials that scatter UV, have defined PAR angular scattering patterns and reflect NIR.
The UoL will develop models (either physical / physiological or functional / structural, 3D CAD) to describe the interaction between material scattering pattern and crop light interception.
The UoR Agri and EMR will conduct experiments to determine the impact of UV, diffuse PAR and NIR on whole crops of strawberry. UoR will focus on crop responses and EMR will conduct studies on insect behaviour and will include high replication experiments with controlled insect release.
Berry Gardens, Haygrove and Finlays will test the most promising materials under commercial conditions. The materials developed within the project will be exploitable within one year of the end of the project.

The major output of this project will be improved films and polyethylene clad tunnels for food production, with the threat of climate change and population increase, these are major challenges for the world community. Driving productivity within the existing international greenhouse estate will play a key role in driving the sustainable intensification of agriculture. These films will be particularly applicable in areas such as Spain and North Africa where heat and moisture loss are an issue, and such improvements will further engender employment opportunities in some of the less economically developed communities. The development of these films may open up additional areas for cultivation and through heat control and reduced pesticide use improve the conditions of agricultural workers.

The immediate beneficiaries of this research will be the companies directly involved in this research. The development of these new materials will allow BPI to improve their market share by 15% pa; the projected increase in sales will amount to some £37 million over the year 5 period (after deducting general market growth). Haygrove will exploit the IP on greenhouse design and the primary producers will benefit from the yield and quality gains derived by the materials. To facilitate uptake, reward development support and help create an industry market pull, BPI is developing an incentivisation package to support Berry Gardens and Finlays in purchasing the product post project completion. Yield gains from PAR diffusion could be in the order of 5% (7 to 10% were demonstrated on tomato, Deuck et al 2012) and there will be significant benefits from higher quality and reduced pest incidence. High levels of labour are required to manually ventilate Spanish tunnels and NIR technology has potential to reduce these costs by substantial temperature reductions . Thus based on the products developed in this project, commercial growers in the UK and elsewhere will see an increase in profitability and reliability with the potential for a reduction in pesticide use. The consortium see significant potential to drive export sales, this will be developed using existing market infrastructure, and license agreements. BPI currently export to three key segments, UK and Ireland, Europe and North America. Importantly, the group already has manufacturing capacity in China, although this is not currently for wide films, the outcomes from this project may enable ready access into the World's largest wide film market.
The use of these films in developing countries is an area we particularly intend to explore via our interaction with Kenyan Rose growers, (as UV in particular my effect flower quality, particularly colour) and we envisage future interactions with other growers (for example essential oil production may be highly dependent on light quality) which might also be of interest to the Department for International Development (DFID) in terms of sustainable development
Finally, the improvements to food quality and yield that these films offer are expected to have considerable impact on the retail sector in terms of improving produce quality and through lower unit costs via increased yields. Reduced pesticide use will be attractive to consumers, who will also be beneficiaries in terms of improved food colour and flavour and reduced prices.