Overcoming a major technical barrier to global trade in fresh produce (horticulture) by exploiting light-induced crop resistance (SAFECROP).

农药的全球使用大大提高了作物产量，但越来越多的证据表明，长期接触这些化学品会带来多方面的问题；涉及社会、经济、环境和人类健康的问题。即使在正常的操作条件下，新鲜农产品（水果和蔬菜）上的农药最大残留水平（MRL’s）也是一个重要的供应链问题，导致在国际边境未通过检测时，有价值的农产品被大规模报废。随着COVID-19的出现，供应商警告说，新鲜水果和蔬菜在欧洲将变得越来越稀缺，因为大流行阻碍了农产品的全球流动、作物收获所需的劳动力和技术贸易壁垒；其中满足严格的MRL测试要求是最高优先级。各国政府和全球供应链目前正在紧急寻找缓解短缺的方法，包括允许新鲜农产品快速跨境运输的“绿色通道”，但不能在不危及消费者安全的情况下放松MRL检测程序。我们提出了一种可能的解决方案，即迫使作物自身对抗经济上重要的病虫害，从而在某些情况下减少或完全不需要使用农药。我们在兰开斯特大学的团队在十多年前开发了这种技术（并申请了专利），并将其授权给一家全球作物公司。该技术依赖于用植物自然产生的化学物质处理作物种子，以产生相当于免疫反应的物质；与目前正在开发的COVID-19疫苗类型没有太大不同。一旦种子经过处理，化学物质在几个小时内就会分解，但是生长中的作物“记住”如何对经济上重要的病虫害的未来袭击做出更快、更强烈的反应，从而减少对化学农药的需求。虽然这项技术在一些关键的农作物上已经被证明是成功的，但其局限性包括活性化学物质的成本/稳定性，以及需要通过常规的农药登记程序，这些程序非常彻底和复杂，但也很昂贵/耗时。在这个项目中，我们建议开发一种高度新颖的替代方法，它将与我们目前的技术一样有效，但使用简单的轻种子处理来复制其好处，使种植者减少化学农药的使用，从而消除新鲜农产品国际贸易的主要技术障碍（MRL’s）。

Global use of pesticides has greatly improved crop yields but mounting evidence demonstrates multifaceted problems linked with long-term exposure to these chemicals; issues spanning society, economy, environment & human health. Even under normal operating conditions, maximum residue levels (MRL's) of pesticides on fresh produce (fruit and vegetables) are a significant supply chain issue leading to large-scale scrappage of valuable produce at international borders when it fails testing. With the emergence of COVID-19, suppliers warn that fresh fruit and vegetables will become increasingly scarce in Europe as the pandemic hampers the global movement of produce, the labor needed for crop harvest and technical barriers to trade; of which meeting strict MRL testing requirements is the highest priority. Governments and the global supply chains are now urgently looking at ways to ease any shortage, including "green lanes" to allow fresh produce to move quickly across borders but MRL testing procedures cannot be relaxed without risking consumer safety. We propose a possible solution to this problem by forcing crop plants to fight off economically important insect pests and disease themselves thereby reducing / or completely negating the requirement for pesticide usage in some circumstances. Our team at Lancaster University developed (and patented) such a technology over a decade ago now and licensed it to a global crop company. That technology relies upon crop seed being treated with a chemical that plants naturally produce to mount their equivalent of an immune response; not too dissimilar the type of vaccination now being developed for COVID-19\. Once the seed are treated the chemical breaks down within a few hours but the developing crop 'remembers' how to mount a faster and more intense response to future attack by economically important pests and diseases reducing the need for chemical pesticides. Whilst the technology has proved successful in some key agri-crops, limitations include the cost/stability of the active chemical and its need to go through normal pesticide registration processes which are rightly thorough and complex but also expensive/time consuming. In this project we propose to develop a highly-novel alternative approach that would be just as effective as our current technology, but use a simple light seed-treatment to duplicate its benefits allowing growers to reduce chemical pesticide use and thereby removing a major technical barrier (MRL's) to international trade in fresh produce.