Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GATEKEEPER (Keeping insects out of the greenhouse gate with odor-masking natural extracts)
Reporting period: 2017-01-01 to 2017-04-30
Gatekeeper is a game changing project aimed at reducing the reliance on traditional chemical and bio pesticides by providing a patented plant-based alternative which masks the odour of greenhouse crops and reduces insect/pest attraction to those crops. The GateKeeper system protects greenhouse entrances by delivering our insect repelling extract in short bursts throughout the day and initial field trials have shown high levels of efficacy against thrips, white fly and leaf miner in tomato and basil crops with insect reduction of greater than 85%. The objective of our project was to further evaluate the commercial viability of GateKeeper, conduct flagship trials to evaluate efficacy, identify potential partners for the ongoing development of the project and create a robust technical development plan encompassing a detailed cost and risk analysis. Our feasibility assessment for the project has yielded compelling results from our field trials, confirmed a unique proposition in the crop protection market and facilitated the development of a detailed technical and commercial development plan. At the conclusion of the Phase 1 project we have sufficient market, technical and commercial knowledge to continue the development of the GateKeeper system and achieve Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9 within 24months of the project commencing. To reach market, we require additional funding to develop the product and our primary option for this funding would be through Phase 2 H2020 SME funding.
Over the last four months we have assessed the technical and commercial viability of GateKeeper to confirm the feasibility of our project. We have performed a detailed market analysis, verifying the commercial potential, the regulatory requirements and validating the possible routes to market for the Gatekeeper product. We have identified and secured agreements with several commercial partners to support ongoing trials in our target markets and we have undertaken a global Freedom-To-Operate analysis to confirm our Intellectual Property strategy for GateKeeper. On the technical side we have completed several flagship experiences proving the efficacy of the GateKeeper as a pest repellent. We have developed a complete execution plan for the ongoing project, including planning, organization, risk analysis and budget. Finally, on the economic side we have developed a detailed business plan including revenues and costs analysis, commercialization plan and assessment of the commercial and technical risks associated the execution. This includes a financial viability plan and projections based on the marketing and price policy.
In a sector dominated by the use of chemical and bio-pesticides the Gatekeeper project to date has demonstrated that there is an alternative viable approach to greenhouse crop protection. As regulatory drivers restrict the use of chemical pesticides, consumers increasingly demand ‘organic’ farming methods and the demand for high yielding crops continues unabated the commercialisation of a natural plant based insect repellent like GateKeeper has the potential to make a significant impact on the crop protection market. Complementary to methods like Integrated Pest Management, Gatekeeper offers the opportunity to not only rival but surpass the effectiveness of traditional pesticides. Unlike traditional pesticides and biopesticides GateKeeper does not act as an environmental pollutant, it does not leave trace chemicals on the crops, it does not lead to insect resistance, it is not impacted by environmental conditions such as temperature and sunlight and it can be used in the harvest and pre-harvest period. Costing only 10% of the cost of alternative protection methods GateKeeper is an attractive proposition that could significantly decrease the cost of protecting crops.