Novel microencapsulation of fungal spores for major crop pest control and more effective Integrated Pest Management procedures

“虫害造成的作物损失仍然是一个主要的农业问题。西花蓟马（WFT）和黑藤象鼻虫（BVW）在国际上造成了高价值园艺作物的经济损失。据估计，欧洲每年因WFT病毒传播和直接饲养造成的损失合计为5.5亿英镑，全球损失超过60亿英镑。仅BVW就给英国造成了每年4000万英镑的损失；全世界\ >£40亿+。目前的控制方法往往是不够的。目前还没有单独有效的控制措施来控制野生白腐病和野生白腐病，种植者/生产者必须使用综合技术（IPM）来进行适当的控制。这些方法不能可靠地提供所需的控制水平，而且损失可能相当大。除了实施问题——教育、时间、成本、复杂性，还存在另外两个主要挑战：1)WFT擅长产生对化学杀虫剂的抗性，而由于2016年市场上淘汰了毒死蜱（有机磷酸酯），监管的增加使得BVW控制变得困难。消费者主导的零售商要求种植者减少或消除作物生产中化学农药（和残留物）的使用。2)目前的生物农药有明显的局限性，包括：需要低温储存（成本/供应链的复杂性）；施用过程中对害虫附着力低（效率低）；发芽和建立的有限相对湿度范围（\>95% RH；降低效率）；粘附后发芽率低（效力低）；对应用条件更敏感（降低功效）。迫切需要新的害虫防治办法，包括在IPM系统中使用更有效的工具以提高有效性。Bionemas的创新技术将生产易于分布（环境温度）的生物农药；高功效;减少所需治疗次数（降低费用）；优化可用的应用方法；真菌疾病控制的更广泛应用。这将通过开发新的真菌孢子微胶囊化工艺来实现，这将：保持真菌孢子在环境温度下储存的生物稳定性；创造一个微环境，保持水分，使种子发芽；增强其与植物表面的附着力。它们将对提高农业生产力产生巨大影响。这项英国资助将有助于为Bionema筹集投资资金，并在产品推出5年后实现显著销售。其他影响还包括使Bionema能够抓住5亿英镑以上的全球市场机会；由于WFT和BVW，每年英国园艺作物损失减少1亿英镑；可能简化种植者IPM计划；减少化学农药的使用；到2020年创造约15个新工作岗位；满足消费者对减少化学农药使用日益增长的需求。”

"Crop losses from pest attack continue to be a major agricultural problem. Western Flower Thrip (WFT) and Black vine weevil (BVW) cause economic losses in high value horticultural crops internationally. European combined losses from virus transmission and direct feeding damage by WFT is estimated at £550m pa, with worldwide costs over £6.0bn. BVW alone causes annual losses of £40m to UK; \>£4.0bn+ worldwide.Current approaches to control are often inadequate. No individually effective control measures exist for WFT and BVW and growers/producers must use combinations of techniques - IPM - for adequate control. These don't reliably provide control levels required and losses can be considerable. In addition to implementation issues - education, time, cost, complexity, two other major challenges exist:1)WFT is adept at developing resistance to chemical insecticides, while increased regulation makes BVW control difficult due to removal of Chlorpyrifos (organophosphates) from the market in 2016\. There is increasing consumer led retailer demand for growers to reduce or eliminate the use of chemical pesticides (and residues) in crop production.2)Current biopesticides have significant limitations including: need for low temperature storage (cost/complexity in supply chain); low adhesion to the pests during application (low efficiency); limited relative humidity range for germination and establishment (\>95% RH; reducing efficacy); low germination rates after adhesion (low efficacy); greater sensitivity to application conditions (reduced efficacy).New solutions to pest control are urgently needed including more effective tools within IPM systems to improve effectiveness. Bionemas' innovative technology will produce biopesticides that have easy distribution (ambient temperature); high efficacy; reduced number of required treatments (reducing costs); optimised for available application methods; wider applications for fungal disease control.This will be achieved by developing novel processes for microencapsulation of fungal spores, which will: maintain biological stability of fungal spores stored at ambient temperature; create a micro-environment to retain water to enable germination; enhance their adhesion to plant surfaces. They will have a dramatic impact on improving agricultural productivity.This IUK grant will facilitate the raising of investment funding into Bionema and result in significant sales 5 years after product launch. Additional impacts include enabling Bionema to address \> £500m+ global market opportunity; £100m reduction in annual UK horticultural crop losses due to WFT & BVW; potential simplification of growers IPM programmes; reduction is usage of chemical pesticides; creation of approximately 15 new jobs by 2020; meeting increasing consumer demand for reduced chemical pesticide use."