WE DOEU PROJECTS

Problems addressed by the project

Crop production is a complex and multifaceted agricultural sector that requires continuous plant protection against pests, diseases and other biological hazards. This requires the use of different chemicals, but in recent years more attention has been paid to alternative plant protection products.

Farmers have to use a variety of solutions to protect their crops from pests, weeds and diseases. While in many cases pesticides are the only option to effectively combat certain pests or diseases, biopesticides play a key role.

Biotechnology can increase the value and efficiency of agriculture by transforming agricultural residues into marketable products. Although Lithuania’s agriculture has great potential in the bioeconomy, it is still under-utilised. The residues generated by Lithuanian agriculture (around 8 million tonnes per year) are not used or are used in a way that generates little value. The large quantities of secondary raw materials generated on farms during harvesting and processing could become valuable raw materials. Biologically valuable substances can be purified from them by CO2 extraction and, according to the literature, some of them may also have anti-mould, anti-bacterial or anti-parasitic properties. Using not only the commercial parts of the plant, but also its secondary raw materials can create a sustainable production model and an innovative product.

Plant-based mixtures have significant advantages: they are harmless to humans, animals and the environment, they do not have the toxic and long-lasting effects of chemical pesticides, and they are suitable for organic crop production, thus increasing the supply of organic products, and recycling of secondary raw materials would help to minimise waste and ensure the circular economy.

Although farmers are open to organic plant protection products, the products available on the market are expensive, only offer one type of protection and sometimes even lack effectiveness. Many biopesticides are bacterial-based and are designed to protect fruits, vegetables and fruit trees, but are ineffective for canola, cereals and legumes. Therefore, according to statistics, the vast majority of farmers still opt for chemical pesticides to protect crop yields in cereals and legumes.

Rapeseed, cereal and legume farms are among the largest in the Baltic countries, as well as in Poland and Germany. The survey of members and customers of the Panevėžio Aruodas farm, as well as a competitor analysis, revealed that the biopesticides currently available on the crop production market do not meet the needs of consumers. Chemical pesticides – can adversely affect the quality of the produce and the soil, but there are no alternatives with a sufficiently broad spectrum of activity to avoid chemical pesticides. Most commercially available biopesticides act specifically on only one of the potential pathogens – either bacteria, moulds or insects. There is also a shortage of bio-based products on the market that are suitable for the protection of cereals or oilseed rape.

The project develops an innovative formulation targeting the Baltic, Polish and German markets. These countries have a large share of oilseed rape, cereal and legume farms, which cannot be effectively protected by the bio-based products currently on the market. Seeing the growing interest of farmers in biopesticides and the potentially strong growth in demand until 2030, Panevėžio Aruodas intends to develop a single, yet effective and complex herbal formulation with anti-mould, anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic effects against plant-pathogenic microorganisms. The aim is to develop a product with activity to protect fruit, vegetables, fruit trees, oilseed rape, cereals and legumes against potentially dangerous bacteria, moulds and parasites.

The product to be developed in the project will be exceptionally sustainable, with research-based purification of bioactive compounds not only from the commercial parts of the plant, but also from their secondary raw materials. There are currently no plant protection products of biological origin on the market that are derived from anthracnose raw materials, which is why the product is said to be new at world level. The emerging concept of a broad-spectrum product is not new in chemical protection products, but is not yet sufficiently applicable to products of biological origin.

The project will involve scientific research of the product in collaboration with a higher education institution, such as the development of a mock-up and prototype of the product, testing it in laboratory conditions, and a team of scientists will contribute to the expert testing of the product in real greenhouse and field conditions, producing a pilot batch in the company.

Compounds and fractions with antibacterial and anti-mould activity will be purified and concentrated using CO2 extraction. The project will apply the knowledge on the performance and purification of bioactive compounds to the extraction of valuable compounds from secondary raw materials, i.e. biomass, which is considered as waste after production or processing. This aims to increase the sustainability of production and preserve the bio-valuable materials in biomass, while producing high added-value products from secondary raw materials. It is known from the scientific literature that some substances, when mixed together, can have a synergistic effect, i.e. a stronger effect than when used alone, so mixtures of purified substances or fractions of substances will be developed to maximise activity. It also includes the development and testing in the laboratory and in real field conditions of the effectiveness of the blends developed against bacteria, moulds and parasites. According to the literature, plant-derived substances with growth-inhibiting effects on bacteria and moulds also act as a repellent for plant parasites. The antibacterial and anti-mould properties of the project will be substantiated by extensive laboratory studies and the synergistic anti-parasitic effect will be monitored and demonstrated in model farms using the formulation under both greenhouse and field conditions. The project will comply with the principles of horizontal, sustainable development, equal opportunities, non-discrimination and innovation, as well as the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The project will contribute to the development of a new high value-added product, enabling researchers to participate in the company’s research and experimental development activities, fostering intellectual property and early pilot production of the new product developed.

The product to be developed will be superior to products currently on the market due to the following features:

First of all, the product will be easily accessible to the target customers because it is produced in Lithuania, the production process is not subject to seasonality, and the producer, ŽŪK Panevėžio Aruodas, has a good understanding of the specifics of crop production and the needs of farmers in the regions where the product is planned to be marketed, which will make it easy and quick to purchase the product and deliver it to the customer.

The blend will meet the needs of consumers as it is being developed in response to a known demand from farmers, in response to their expressed shortcomings of existing products on the market, and it is being formulated as a complex, broad-acting product that simplifies plant care, both in a technical sense (no need to spray with several different agents), and in a cost-effective sense (no need to purchase several different products that may be incompatible with one another).

The formulation will be plant-based, using not only commercial but also secondary raw materials, and the cost of the blend is expected to be lower than that of similar competitors’ products. Currently, in order to obtain the triple effect (against mould, bacteria and parasites), the buyer has to choose separate, different products, the combined effects of which are not known and may have a negative impact, and which require care and extra time during the spraying phase.

The wording to be developed will be user-friendly. The project sample will not only include research in the laboratory, but also real-time studies on model farms. The product developed will therefore have experimentally based rules of use, concentrations and instructions that are clear and easy to understand for the end user. Also, the fact that a single mixture will be sufficient to protect against a wide range of threats will reduce the cost of spraying farmers’ fields.

The innovative blend will solve the current problem of availability of bio-based products for cereal and legume crop protection in the Baltic region. It will also help farmers to protect their crops in a simple and high quality way.

The development of a plant-based mixture using secondary plant materials will contribute to the development of a sustainable production process, and its comprehensiveness and effectiveness, as well as its affordability, will motivate farmers to switch from chemical plant protection products to a plant-based mixture to protect their plants from bacteria, moulds, and pests, thus contributing to the reduction of pollution.

Objective of the project

To develop an innovative blend of plant-derived substances with anti-mould, anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic effects against plant pests through R&D activities.

Planned project activities

Invest in activities to develop new high value-added products and enable researchers to participate in companies’ R&D activities, to promote intellectual property, early pilot production and market readiness of new products developed.

Planned project impacts and project results