Innovative UV-robotics to improve existing IPM strategies and to benefit farmers, consumers and the environment

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In North West Europe (NWE) the horticultural production of fresh fruit, vegetables, herbs and ornamentals is a successful and important component of the economy. Current horticultural practices still rely on intense pesticide use. One important disease in a variety of crops is mildew where chemical control also results in spray residues on the harvested product. In strawberry for example sprayings against powdery mildew can leave up to 6 active ingredients, contributing to 40% of the residues. Scientific research showed that UVc-light as a physical mildew control is efficient and has the potential to become a sustainable alternative. In strawberry this can reduce the residues below 10%. Due to manual labour intensity, the UVc-technique is not used in the NWE greenhouses yet. The main objective of this project is to stimulate knowledge exchange and to develop, test and demonstrate cost-effective UVc-robots for crop protection against mildew in NWE horticulture. Horticultural experts in Belgium and the UK together with Belgian expertise in automation and French expertise in data analyses will jointly develop innovative robots that can autonomously apply UVc-strategies in 5 crops (strawberry, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, basil). The automation of UVc-application is indispensable for the implementation of this technique and will increase innovation in NWE horticulture. Co-creation of innovative sensors for automatic disease monitoring by a UK partner specialized in e-nose development will alleviate farmers workload and ensure tight disease control in the crops. To develop and validate the UVc-IPM strategy in all crops a project period of 4 years is necessary. At the end of the project the developed robots will be available for growers with a user-friendly interface and a crop specific implementation strategy. Demonstration across the NWE region and extensive communication during and after the project will inform growers to ensure innovation roll-out. Pesticide use and spray residues on harvested produce will decrease drastically in the NWE region.

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