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PRESS RELEASE
Potato Blight Alert Aims to Provide Early Warning to
Growers for Smart Spray Management
Crop Performance Ltd., Rothamsted Research, The James Hutton Institute and a consortia of six partners including
Spearhead Marketing Ltd., G’s Fresh, Velcourt Group Ltd, Frontier Agriculture Ltd., Burkard Manufacturing, and
James Hutton Limited (formerly MRS Ltd.) have been awarded funding from Innovate UK with co-funding from AHDB
Potatoes and industry sponsorship of over £1.06M to develop a solution for the optimized detection and control of
Potato Blight: Sensing Pathogens to Inform Smart Spray Decisions. The project aims to monitor airborne spores of
oomycete and fungal pathogens responsible for causing late and early blight in potatoes. This pathogen monitoring
network will be extended to other crops and forms the foundation for an international network for crop protection to
inform early spray decisions and fungicide resistance.
“For the first time, growers will have an in-field diagnostic to provide awareness and understanding of the evidence
of air-borne spores as an early indicator of disease risk. In addition to pathogen detection, the DNA based method
will, in time, allow the prospect for monitoring fungicide resistance. With in-situ monitoring, the solution will provide
awareness of the efficacy of fungicides, providing feedback to growers on the selection of appropriate crop
protection products to apply to manage disease risk.” said Jon West, Principal Investigator and Senior Scientist from
Rothamsted Research.
The objective is to detect plant pathogens to enable site specific fungicide spray treatments; protect crop yield,
decrease costs, minimise environmental impact and reduce residues. The projects seek to demonstrate a new
portable device – a “laboratory in a box” - that will sample airborne spores of two pathogens (Phytophthora infestans
and Alternaria solani) in potato crops across 8 sites.
Reuben Morris, Frontier Agriculture, a project collaborator commented, “Agronomists use current decision support
systems to adjust the strength of blight programmes during the growing season. The decision support systems under
development combines recent advances in technology with improved understanding of blight biology. In-field spore
trapping and DNA identification of the blight pathogens, combined with wireless reporting of the results will allow
agronomists to make real-time decisions on the most appropriate fungicide programmes.”
Emma Kelcher, Spearhead Marketing, a project collaborator further elaborated, “We would like to help growers make
more informed decisions for their spraying operations and reducing their chemical usage whilst controlling Blight and
Alternaria. This project will help to improve industry knowledge of Alternaria and its control.”
The solution automatically processes the sample, detects DNA and relays results by mobile phone text message
to the grower. The aim is to improve current weather-based disease risk models and predictions for a range of crop
pathogens, resulting in enhanced decision making ability for growers with respect to fungicide choice and application
and therefore more efficient resource use. The goal is to bring together novel diagnostic tools, crop disease
modelling and predictive analytics to underpin grower decision making.
“The James Hutton Institute welcomes the opportunity to deliver novel diagnostics and models for
incorporation into practical in-field tools to directly inform decision making by growers. This collaboration between
research and industry brings together appropriate technologies with the aim of reducing disease losses caused by
late and early blight in potato crops whilst avoiding the application of unnecessary sprays, “said Dr. Alison Lees,
a Co-Investigator on the project and leading senior scientist at the James Hutton Institute.
“Crop Performance looks forward to enabling a leading DNA based diagnostic method for early detection of
oomycete and fungal pathogens on crops. The project is part of a programme of work where Crop Performance is
developing decision support solutions to forecast the risk of crop diseases and forms a foundation for the creation
of a monitoring network with an integrated ICT solution to provide early warning to growers to act on a smart spray
recommendation informed by actual risk of infection, added Stephanie Race, CEO, Crop Performance Ltd.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Crop Performance Ltd. delivers its solutions via IoT networks, bringing ground sensors and big data to inform
grower decision making. Decisions that inform smart spray management and fungicide resistance management will
help farmers lower cost of production while ensuring responsible use of crop protection products. Crop Performance
provides solutions for yield forecasting, irrigation and nutrient management to increase yield per hectare at a lower
cost of production. Crop Performance delivers solutions to inform crop protection programs of growers through its
Pathogen Population Monitoring Network TM. Crop Performance licenses its data to subscribers on a per hectare
basis. For more information about the company’s products and services, consult www.crop-performance.com
Frontier Agriculture Ltd. is the UK’s leading crop production and grain marketing business. It is recognised for
its close customer relationships with farmers and grain consumers, and its successful management of the whole
arable supply chain. Frontier works in partnership with it customers to tailor its advice and solutions to best support
their farm business. Frontier believes in making a difference by providing first class advice, an innovative range of
products and a service that is second to none. Follow Frontier on Twitter @FrontierAg, or visit the website
www.frontierag.co.uk
The James Hutton Institute is a world-leading, multi-site scientific organisation encompassing a distinctive
range of integrated strengths in land, crop, waters, environmental and socio-economic science. It undertakes
research for customers including the Scottish and UK Governments, the EU and other organisations worldwide.
The institute has a staff of nearly 550 and 120 PhD students, and takes its name from the 18th century Scottish
Enlightenment scientist, James Hutton, who is widely regarded as the founder of modern geology and who was also
an experimental farmer and agronomist.
www.hutton.ac.uk
Velcourt is a UK based farming company with global reach and experience. We provide a bespoke, flexible, clientled service to tenant and landed farmers, private owner of country estates and institutional investors, delivered
by dedicated farming professionals. Velcourt is unique in terms of Farm management organisations, in having a
dedicated, in-house R&D facility which works will all major ag-chem companies as well as leading several publicly
funded projects via Innovate UK.
www.velcourt.co.uk
Rothamsted Research is the longest running agricultural research station in the world, providing cutting-edge
science and innovation for over 170 years. Our mission is to deliver the knowledge and new practices to increase
crop productivity and quality and to develop environmentally sustainable solutions for food and energy production.
Our strength lies in the integrated, multidisciplinary approach to research in plant, insect and soil science.
Rothamsted Research is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
(BBSRC). In 2013-2014 Rothamsted Researched received a total of £32.9M from the BBSRC.
www.rothamsted.ac.uk
Spearhead Marketing Ltd (SML) is a leading potato supplier to the UK processing market linking own and third
party production with crisping and other potato processors through the Spearhead relationship.
SML is part of the Greens of Soham Ltd and Spearhead International Ltd group, a European farming group supplying
food processors, manufacturers and retailers.
www.spearheadinternational.com
G’s fresh is a truly vertically integrated grower-to-marketing organization that manages the entire process from seed
to shelf; via growing through to production and marketing. The company is, at its heart, a family business with very
strong values for its people, its customers and its suppliers, as well as enormous respect for the environment and
nature. Our farms and production facilities are located throughout the UK, Spain, Czech Republic and the USA.
www.gs-fresh.com
Burkard Manufacturing Co. Ltd. was established in 1952 to produce high quality scientific laboratory and field
equipment for the medical, environmental, agricultural and laboratory Sciences. More than 90% of our products
reach overseas markets and a number of specialised instruments have become a standard of reference and we
are a market leader in the design and manufacture of automated analysers. As a manufacturing company, we are
committed to an ongoing programme of R&D to ensure our leadership in these specialised and sophisticated fields.
www.burkard.co.uk
JHL is a subsidiary of The James Hutton Institute, formed through a merger of Mylnefield Research Services Ltd
(MRS) and Macaulay Scientific Consulting Ltd. James Hutton Limited (JHL) commercialises the scientific expertise,
intellectual property, facilities and resources of The James Hutton Institute. JHL offer commercial customers a
comprehensive range of analytical, research and development, breeding, and consultancy services.
www.huttonltd.com
AHDB Potato Council is a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board. AHDB is the UK’s
statutory levy board, funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain and managed as an independent
organisation (independent of both commercial industry and of government). AHDB Potato Council works towards
making the British potato industry more sustainable, competitive and profitable.
www.ahdb.org.uk
Innovate UK is the new name for the Technology Strategy Board – the UK’s innovation agency. Taking a new idea
to market is a challenge. Innovate UK funds, supports and connects innovative businesses through a unique mix of
people and programmes to accelerate sustainable economic growth. For further information visit
www.innovateuk.org
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