[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/pl\/article\/modal\/6483\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n        \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n  \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ENatural enemies enlisted as troops in war on pests\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe idea is to prevent or reduce the number of pests on crops through physical and biological means before resorting to chemical pesticides.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists are designing 11 new biocontrol products \u2013 sprays or powders that can be put on crops to control pests or diseases. The \u2018bio\u2019 in the name comes from the fact that they are full of living organisms, be it viruses, bacteria, fungi or nematode worms, that destroy their prey in the same way they would in the wild.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPredators can also take the form of other insects, with the end product being a dispenser full of eggs that the farmer can release onto his or her crops.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It\u2019s a completely different way of controlling the pest or disease population,\u2019 said Dr J\u00fcrgen K\u00f6hl from Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands, who coordinates the EU-funded research, conducted under a project known as BIOCOMES.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are tackling five diseases and seven pests, which are divided between arable, vegetable, fruit and forestry crops. For some of the products, they are starting with a known enemy and working out how to incorporate them into a spray or powder. For others, they first have to identify a suitable candidate, excluding any that have been shown to cause problems in the environment in the past.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr K\u00f6hl says that as well as getting the products through regulatory screening and establishing whether there\u2019s a market for them, one of the challenges of using biocontrols is to introduce farmers and growers to a new way of doing things.\u003Cdiv class=\u0022text-center bg-bluelightest p-12 my-12 -mx-16\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Ch3 class=\u0022font-sans font-bold text-blue uppercase text-lg mb-8\u0022\u003EThe Issue\u003C\/h3\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022inline-block w-1\/6 h-1 bg-blue mb-8\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp\u003EUsing biological resources such as crops, forests, fish, animals and microorganisms to produce food, materials or energy is known as the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/programmes\/horizon2020\/en\/h2020-section\/bioeconomy\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebioeconomy\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe idea is to decrease reliance on fossil carbon-based resources to ensure sufficient supplies of raw materials, energy and industrial products in the future.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2012, the EU launched a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/research\/bioeconomy\/index.cfm?pg=policy\u0026amp;lib=strategy\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebioeconomy strategy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and EUR 3.5\u0026nbsp;billion has been set aside for research and innovation in this area. Each euro invested is expected to trigger EUR\u0026nbsp;10 of added value in the different bioeconomy sectors by 2025.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018What we have to learn, and what the growers and the distributors have to learn, is that it\u2019s living organisms and this is different to chemicals. They depend on the environmental conditions.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe points to a very simple example \u2013 storage. \u2018Living organisms will not survive high temperatures. We all know that, but you have to realise it when you buy a biocontrol product. A chemical you can leave in your car on a hot day. But if you buy a biological and you leave it in your car on a sunny day, it\u2019s sterilised.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBIOCOMES researchers are also working on new ways of breeding these tiny organisms so that their production can be scaled up for widespread use.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENematode worms, for example, which can be used to keep maize healthy, are produced in fermenters and need to be stored in cool conditions. To service a large market and deliver nematode worms in spring, the researchers need to find a way of producing them in winter and then storing them until they are ready to use.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey are using selective breeding techniques to create populations that have a higher stress tolerance and will therefore have a longer shelf-life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIndustrial partners\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy the end of 2017, the BIOCOMES researchers hope to have their 11 pilot products at the stage where they are ready for the registration process and where work can begin in scaling up production. It will then be up to the project\u2019s industrial partners to make a decision on whether they want to take them forward to market.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is the same approach taken by another group of researchers, who created a new type of pesticide from the bark of larch trees.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrently a by-product of high-end furniture production, larch bark can be turned into a pest-killer by extracting its active ingredient and putting it in a formulation which can be used on crops.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe resulting product, Larixyne, is specifically intended to replace the use of copper and synthetic fungicides in treating grapevines, which is the number one crop using a large amount of fungicides in Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@aligncenter@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Larch tree bark could be turned into a fungicide to treat grapevines. Image courtesy of Lucius Tamm\u0022 height=\u0022567\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/Bark_trunks_crop.JPG\u0022 title=\u0022Larch tree bark could be turned into a fungicide to treat grapevines. Image courtesy of Lucius Tamm\u0022 width=\u00221200\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022italic mb-4\u0022\u003ELarch tree bark could be turned into a fungicide to treat grapevines. Image courtesy of Lucius Tamm\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It is potentially a novel fungicide with an improved ecological and human toxicology profile,\u2019 said Dr Lucius Tamm from the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Frick, Switzerland, who coordinated the EU-funded project, known as ProLarix. \u2018The interesting thing about it is that it\u2019s taken from a waste by-product from the forest industry, so it\u2019s as renewable as you like and it\u2019s natural.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Tamm says that disease and pests will become a greater threat in the future because of the pressures of climate change. This is because of things like earlier springs and weather extremes being conducive to disease development, and intensive rainfall washing off pesticides, thereby creating a need to use more.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003E\u2018It\u2019s taken from a waste by-product from the forest industry, so it\u2019s as renewable as you like and it\u2019s natural.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003EDr Lucius Tamm, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Switzerland\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe problem with copper-based fungicides isn\u2019t that they\u2019re toxic in small doses, but that copper is not biodegradable, meaning that continued use can cause a layer of copper to build up in the soil. The EU is supporting the organic sector to \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/legal-content\/en\/TXT\/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.L_.2016.116.01.0008.01.ENG\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ereplace copper as a plant protection product\u003C\/a\u003E and\u0026nbsp;the point of funding projects such as ProLarix is to ensure that there are replacements available for growers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, Dr Tamm said that while the project, which ended in 2015, confirmed two points about Larixyne, which is that it works and it has a low toxicity profile, there\u2019s still a way to go before we see it on shelves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe key remaining question is whether there\u2019s a market, and this depends on what price the mills will sell the bark at, and whether the production process can be optimised to scale up production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The old fungicides such as copper are cheap,\u2019 said Dr Tamm. \u2018If a competitive product comes to the market it doesn\u2019t stand a chance if it\u2019s way too expensive. The farmer will obviously choose the cheaper option unless he\u2019s forced to use the more expensive one.\u2019\u003Cdiv class=\u0022moreinfoblock\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Ch3\u003EFOOD 2030 Conference\u003C\/h3\u003E\n  \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px;\u0022\u003EOn 13 October the EU is hosting a conference entitled\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/research\/conferences\/2016\/food2030\/index.cfm?pg=home\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px;\u0022\u003E FOOD 2030\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px;\u0022\u003E: Research \u0026amp; Innovation\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px;\u0022\u003Efor Tomorrow\u0027s Nutrition \u0026amp; Food Systems, to bring together high-level officials, industry representatives, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and civil society organisations.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe idea is to explore what is needed to transform and future-proof our food systems to provide accessible, healthy and sustainable food and diets for all. It will also look at how research and innovation systems can be scaled-up to help achieve this.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe conference builds on Commissioner Carlos Moedas\u2019 commitment to creating a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/commission\/2014-2019\/moedas\/announcements\/next-steps-towards-food-research-area_en\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EFood Research Area\u003C\/a\u003E by 2020 to enhance cooperation, openness and innovation and refine the EU\u2019s strategic approach to EU agricultural research and innovation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n            \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n      Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-lbzu0aoo-aiiq4usuw60vntvw-wi4xtlr06jb1wmrhy\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-lBzu0aOo_Aiiq4USuW60VNtvw-wI4XtLR06JB1wMRHY\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]