Smarter crop farming that combats weeds, insect pests and plant ailments by integrating fashionable applied sciences like AI-based monitoring, robotics, and next-generation biotechnology with wholesome and resilient agricultural ecosystems: One Crop Well being, a brand new analysis collaboration primarily based at College of Copenhagen goals to scale back using pesticides by creating a sustainable agriculture for the longer term.
In step with the age-old saying: ‘prevention is healthier than a treatment’ extra sustainable approaches ought to await the farmers of the longer term with out compromising their productiveness, as envisioned by the researchers main the just lately launched One Crop Well being analysis venture.
Backed by DKK 60 million (€8.05M) from Novo Nordisk, researchers from College of Copenhagen will collect data over the following six years to develop smarter agriculture that’s each sustainable and capable of produce sufficient meals for the world’s rising inhabitants in a collaboration with researchers from Aarhus College and Rothamsted Analysis within the UK.
For a few years, growers have relied on pesticides to manage illness, pests and weeds, which result in worldwide losses of one-third of crop yield. On the similar time, estimates present that we are going to want 60% extra meals than at this time by 2050.
Nevertheless, pesticides additionally threaten well being, nature and biodiversity, and there’s growing stress from society and politicians to restrict their use. Just lately the will for more healthy and extra sustainable crops resulted in EU coverage plans for a 50% discount in pesticides by 2030. These plans have now been set on pause after being challenged by farmers involved that pesticide discount may make farming unviable by hurting productiveness.
So, can growers halve their use of pesticides with out the career changing into unproductive and the world operating out of meals or? That is the central query that One Crop Well being seeks to reply.
Making pesticide discount worthwhile for farmers
“The political controversy, farmer and trade concern, and the uncertainty over regulation clearly exhibits that extra analysis is required to allow this transition. Most farmers really need to use much less pesticides, however there’s a want for analysis that demonstrates how that is attainable while sustaining wholesome, high-yielding, and worthwhile crops. The One Crop Well being venture goals to bridge the hole by creating analysis, which locations the drive to scale back pesticide use on a scientific basis that may in the end assist farmers make the rational resolution to assist cut back pesticide use,” says Professor Paul Neve from the Division of Plant and Environmental Sciences
In accordance with the venture’s lead researcher, making a viable transition is feasible although, utilizing a extra holistic strategy to farming.
“Usually the main target wants to maneuver away from fixing particular person issues by method of some blunt instruments like pesticides. Oftentimes, this strategy creates new issues elsewhere, which then additionally should be addressed. Planting fields densely to keep away from weeds is one other instance of this lack of oversight, the place the misguided resolution finally ends up creating the optimum circumstances for fungi and ailments as a substitute. We have to get higher at understanding whole ecosystems after which make use of the entire fashionable instruments obtainable,” says Professor Paul Neve.
“If we will create wholesome ecosystems that may cut back the numbers of pests, weed and ailments, it would merely cut back the necessity for spraying. We are able to largely exchange the remaining want with different instruments, for instance, AI-based monitoring and modelling will help to tell the place and when pests should be managed and new options corresponding to bio-pesticides can be utilized to attain that,” he says.
Pure defenses have been changed with chemical compounds
The resilience that outcomes from wholesome ecosystems can cut back challenges which can be at present solved by means like pesticides.
“At present’s crops are characterised by makes an attempt to make crop manufacturing extra environment friendly for 1000’s of years. Within the course of, many crops have misplaced their pure defences in opposition to pests, weeds and ailments,” explains Paul Neve.
In accordance with the researcher, tomorrow’s growers can get higher at defending their vegetation by how issues are completed in nature. Right here, useful microorganisms like micro organism and fungi shield in opposition to ailments, and wholesome crops are extra aggressive in opposition to weeds. On the similar time, pests that threaten crops will probably be higher managed by their pure enemies.
“In the event you consider the sphere as a whole ecosystem that should thrive — therefore the title One Crop Well being, we imagine you get a preventive total impact. On the similar time, fashionable data and expertise can, for instance, change the fundamental want for pesticides. Whereas whole fields are sprayed at this time, drone surveillance will enable us to solely goal the place weeds are a menace to the crop, or in no way, and let robots do the work as a substitute,” says the professor.
100 farmers to assist researchers
“A part of the venture is about working with farmers, utilizing their fields to find good options, so future agriculture might be primarily based on the very best data,” says Paul Neve.
In collaboration with 100 farms, and distributed equally throughout Denmark and England, they may start by amassing knowledge from scratch.
“We start by asking farmers about their present challenges, how they may attempt to resolve them and about what works and what would not. To this data financial institution, we are going to add our skilled data of ecosystems, fashionable applied sciences and strategies, after which the purpose when the six years have handed is to have the ability to give numerous data and concrete strategies again to farmers,” says Paul Neve.
Drone knowledge and fashions will predict area wants
The ultimate prong within the effort to attain a holistic understanding comes from broad data and fashionable applied sciences that present entry.
In an interdisciplinary collaboration with the Division of Laptop Science at College of Copenhagen, a gaggle of laptop scientists will translate data from surveillance with fashionable applied sciences corresponding to drones, and on that foundation design so-called digital twins of farmer’s fields.
“They are going to present a form of mannequin that may predict how fields will behave, the wants which can be simply across the nook and the way completely different options will have an effect on the fields,” says Paul Neve.
Within the second half of the six-year venture, 11 Ph.D. college students will develop data about particular options inside their respective focus areas.
“When the six years have handed, it will be significant for us that we’ve got built-in knowledge and new instruments in a holistic method, offering farmers with concrete strategies that they will use to resolve their challenges in on a regular basis life extra sustainably with out compromising productiveness,” Paul Neve concludes.
