The work programme outlined for the second 12 months of SMY was to build on initial results obtained in period 1. There were a total of 18 deliverables in the work programme for SMY and all have been achieved over the duration of the project. A total of 32 Oilseed Rape (OSR) field trials were completed in period 2 of the project, which along with those completed in period 1 (30) resulted in a total of 62 field trials being completed over the duration of the project. The two years of trial data demonstrated that SMY was capable of delivering yield increases in current commercial winter OSR (WOSR) varieties, with a yield increase over the current grower standard in 70% of the trials (n=27). The new formulation developed during work package 4 (SMY2) was included in the 2018 field trials only and this new formulation provided further yield increases with 73% of the trials giving more yield than the control (n=15). A relationship between winter OSR variety and the performance of the SMY technology is evident in the data and this has a significant impact on the average yield increases. The SMY technology delivered significant increases in the shatter resistance of the pods in the field trials (83% of trials were more resistant than controls) as measure by Random Impact Testing (RIT) with an average increase in resistance to shatter of 28.1%. The collation of this field data in the second reporting period of the SMY project provides the consortium with a convincing dataset to engage with distributors and growers in order to promote the inclusion of SMY technology in their crop management programme.
The activities of work package 3 have provided a detailed insight into how SMY technology impacts the physiology of the OSR pod and how it delivers its anti-shatter effect. The IND gene expression data obtained from the pods in the field trials provides strong evidence that the SMY mode of action does transfer to the field and does deliver real yield increases for the grower. Work package 4 activities during period 2 led to the generation of adequate amounts of refined biomolecules for the formulation of SMY2. This has resulted in actionable data for the scale-up and commercialization of a revised SMY formulation with enhanced potency and robustness. The commercialisation activity of SMY has allowed the updating of the commercialisation plan to reflect the best route to market and will leverage the valuable data generated during the course of the project for the maximum economic benefit of the consortium, the EU and other stakeholders. The activity of work package 6 has led to improvements in processing efficiency, product consistency, security of raw material supply and production capacity to serve future market needs. This work has put the consortium in a great position to capitalise on future market demand for the SMY technology. Knowledge transfer and dissemination activities have resulted in growers and distributors understanding how the SMY technology is used and what benefits it can deliver from a crop management and economic perspective. The expected impacts outlined in the original DoA are still relevant. Based on the field trial yield results obtained during the project a number of market and agronomy factors will be important for the exploitation of the results. Chief among these factors is the variety of OSR. Two popular varieties used by growers are Anastasia and V316 OL, SMY delivered an average of 9.7% and 20% yield increases, respectively, in these varieties. Evaluation of yield in the Department of Agriculture recommended WOSR varieties over the 2 years resulted in an average yield increase of 7.7%.
