Project aims to replace pesticides with photonic ‘nose’

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations up to 40 per cent of global crop production is lost to pests annually. Each year, plant diseases cost the global economy over $220bn, and invasive insects at least $70bn.

The Midlands-based research will be using strawberries to test the new technology. According to Aston University, the fruit is worth £350m to the UK economy but is vulnerable to potato aphid which has the potential to wipe out an annual harvest.

Crops can be treated with pesticides, but pressure is increasing to find alternatives due to their environmental impact.

One method is to use integrated pest management (IPM) to create an early warning system. It monitors plants for build-up of insects and diseases rather than spraying plants with chemicals, but so far it is said to have proven unreliable and expensive.

The new project uses recent developments in photonics technology that can analyse low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by plants, which indicate their health, coupled with machine learning hardware.