Aspects of Land | Spring/Summer 2018

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16 Aspects of Land Spring / Summer 2018
AGRITECH
costs down for all, help us improve human
and animal health and ensure we better
protect the environment.”
Investment in to agritech has seen
quantum leaps forward, with the US
doubling investment from 2014 to 2016
and Europe more than tripling it during
the same period. Already there are signs
this is reaching farm level.
Dutch company 30MHz opened
offices in the UK last year in response to
the surge in interest from farmers and
growers here for its microclimate sensors.
“The need to innovate to make best
use of resources is driving this, as well as
concerns over labour supply post-Brexit.
Sensors in greenhouses or fields remove
the need for people to physically go out
there for monitoring – that information is
sent straight back to your computer,” says
30MHz’s Joanna Madej.
The company is working with London-
based vertical salad grower Uprooted
Farms, using sensors to monitor
temperature and humidity. The aim is to
ensure uniform temperatures vertically,
and experiment with changing the flavour
of crops by adjusting conditions.
They’re also getting increasing interest
from arable farmers. “The monitors are
very robust, so field-scale use isn’t the
issue. A bigger challenge is connectivity,
but we’ve developed a 3G solar-powered
gateway specifically for use in large areas
like this.
“The information is then linked to
notification alerts, and can also be
integrated with other technology like GIS
systems, drones and automatic irrigators.”
The emphasis on environmental
protection is also driving a new green
revolution in crop protection. While
biological pest control such as the use
of parasitoid wasps is well established,
the next step is integrating biopesticides
into pest management systems no longer
WHERE NEXT FOR
PEST MANAGEMENT?
Biopesticides, which are natural
biological solutions for pest
control, are being touted as the
next wave of green technology.
They include micro-
organisms such as bacteria
and fungus being used to
interfere with pests’ life cycles
or even employing insect sex
pheromones to upset natural
breeding cycles.
Biopesticides are considered
minimal risk products that
produce no toxins harmful to
human populations and can
be used in a wide range of
situations against insect and
mite pests, plant pathogens and
weed species.
They are already being used in
protected crops in the UK.
The bacterium Bacillus
subtilis, which is used against
plant pathogen botrytis on
strawberries and other crops,
is currently the most widely
used biopesticide in the UK.
Bioherbicides based on fungi
such as Chondrostereum
purpureumcan infect multiple
weed species, and their use is
set to increase in the future as
herbicide resistance in species
such as blackgrass becomes
more problematic.
“We’re starting to turn our
attention more to biologically-
based control in field crops,”
says Dr Chandler of the
University of Warwick. “The
idea is to use new sources of
resistance to slow down pest
development rates and thereby
speed up susceptibility to
biopesticides.”
solely reliant on conventional pesticides
(see below).
Speaking at the Agriculture and
Horticulture Development Board’s
Agronomists Conference last year,
scientist Dr David Chandler of Warwick
Crop Centre at the University of Warwick
said there are a wide range of biologically-
based crop protection agents coming
through onto the market.
“They will dramatically change crop
protection. We can’t continue relying
on conventional pesticides as the silver
bullet; those days have gone,” he said,
adding that around 600 species of pests
now have resistance to insecticides.
This approach is also using cutting-edge
gene technology in the fight against pests.
Spear-T is a greenhouse bioinsecticide
licensed in the US that uses a peptide
toxin isolated from spider venom and
genetically engineered into yeast to target
the pests including thrips, whiteflies and
spider mites.
“A lot of the work to develop new
products is coming through the States at
the moment, but it will make its way to
Europe,” said Chandler.
The Government has made it clear that
farm payments in the future will be linked
to sustainable farming that enhances the
environment.
As a result, Tom Brunt says there
will undoubtedly be challenges post-
Brexit. “But this also offers enormous
opportunities for farms and estates that
are willing to restructure and diversify
using new technologies. Supported
investment in agritech allows forward
planning in smart farming methods
that will be increasingly important in
the future.”
n To find out more about how you could
use agritech, contact Tom Brunt, Winchester
01962 857 407,
THE FUTURE: WILL WE
BE FARMING INSECTS?
The idea of eating insects,
known as entomophagy, might
give most UK consumers the
creepy-crawlies, but edible
insects are a staple part of
the diet in 80% of countries
worldwide. There are a number
of UK companies encouraging
people to consider insects as an
alternative protein source with
lower environmental costs, says
Joshua Spink of Savills Rural.
“They have a very high
capacity to convert feed to body
mass, and use very little water
and land area compared to beef
production or crops like soya,”
says Joshua.
Several species of insects are
used for human consumption
in the UK, including crickets,
grasshoppers, buffalo worms
and mealworms, either whole or
powdered for use in cooking
and baking. Most whole
insects are coated in flavours
to make them more palatable.
“The main stumbling
blocks are legal, the energy
requirements for heat and also
there are issues with consumer
perception,” says Joshua.
“Insects such as crickets tend
to be more appealing visually,
whereas mealworms have faster
growth rates and require lower
temperatures, so are less heat
intensive during production.”
So are insects a serious food
of the future? A qualified yes, is
the answer.
“Considerations around water
and land use are likely to fuel
growth in insect production.
Questions still remain, however,
around when and how big that
growth will be. It’s an emerging
area and there are still legislative
hurdles around the use of waste
products to feed insects for
human consumption, and about
the use of insect protein in
animal feed,” Joshua warns.
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