Periodic Reporting for period 2 - OXIR (Vegetable Ozone Therapy Crops Sanitized Naturally from Seed to Feed)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2020-11-01 al 2022-04-30
Crop pests have serious consequences for agriculture, in terms of economic losses and wastefulness of resources. In addition, according to the FAO, transboundary plant pests and diseases, growing in the last years because of globalization, trade and climate change, as well as reduced resilience in production systems due to decades of agricultural intensification - affect food crops, threatening food security. Agriculture is to be safe, healthy, and sustainable, so it is essential to have healthy crops; they play a role in producing enough healthy foods and contribute to the quality of life. OXIR is an innovative technology for spraying aqueous ozone (O3) for disease control and sanitation of greenhouse crops, taking advantage of the powerful oxidation-based (hence nonselective) anti-pathogen action of ozone. OXIR offers two configurations adaptable to users’ needs a fixed and a mobile prototype, that will allow European farmers saving €6.000,00/ha/year due to reductions in chemicals and labor. Currently, existing solutions to fight crop pests and diseases include synthetic chemical pesticides – posing serious environmental concerns - and bio-pesticides – that are not strongly effective, as their pest spectrum is narrow. Compared to these solutions, OXIR is highly efficient against fungi and bacteria (85-99% removal) and viruses (90-99%); costs-effective: OXIR treatment saves working time (1 min. treatment; 20 min. safety interval) compared to biopesticides and chemicals; environmentally sustainable: OXIR is IPM compatible, sustainable, and does not leave polluting residues. OXIR secures the supply of healthy vegetables/fruits in Europe and boosts the competitiveness of crop sector, ensuring a pest-free production prolonging shelf-life by an innovative clean technology that is economically and environmentally sustainable. OXIR has been taken from pre-production state to market readiness. Now, at the end of the H2020 project, it is tested, certified, prepared for industrial production and ready for market expansion.
As a first step for good management, MET and G.R. GAMBERINI signed the Consortium Agreement and the contracts with all the subcontractors involved to assure all tasks were completed correctly and on time. In order for the project to be easily identifiable online we worked on a new website dedicated to OXIR and connected to MET and G.R. GAMBERINI websites. The www.oxir.eu website was created including different sections describing: the phase 2 project, “how it all began” with the phase 1 experience we gained from the flagship experimental tests, the work packages section containing brief reports on the experimental sites experiences, a news section, a “become a dealer” and a contact section. The mobile prototype design and assembly was realized with the implementation of different steps: a) systems design which comprises components selection and optimizations of the chosen components taken from long-time reliable suppliers or directly produced by G.R. Gamberini and MET workshops. b) prototype assembly with in-house tests and validation. c) pilot field testing
The experimental field activity of the OXIR project was organized by the Agri2000 Net Test Center, Castel Maggiore, Bologna, and agronomist Bucchi Renzo, Director of the Experimental Center, who guaranteed the experimental quality of the activities. The experimental tests were located on the national territory in Italy at the agricultural production areas that are among the most suitable and relevant for both production and the parasites presence. Similarly, we operated in Morocco, Spain and the USA where we are working on the realization of a part of the activity. In those areas we will always have the supervision of the agronomist Bucchi on the quality of produced data while working in collaboration with national certified Research Centers. The diseases found in the tests are indigenous diseases that farmers find naturally on their farm. Tests have been carried out in line with the Good Experimental Practices that are adopted throughout Europe and according to the indications in the EPPO guidelines regarding the execution of the experimental test and the collection and processing of field data. All test data are collected and stored in copy in the server of the Agri 2000 Test Center. OXIR gives good results in terms of pest control on treated crops: ozone is not phytotoxic to the plant at the rate used, and it will be very useful to replace some conventional products as well as to be used side by side with some others in pest control strategy. All the results in the field tests are remarkably interesting. Over the project, the mobile prototypes for the distribution of ozonated water has been continuously improved to reach a final version of OXIR mobile sprayer. With the help of subcontractor USMAC we reached a full view on the US and global market landscape and elaborated a pitch to be presented in front of a jury of investors potentially interested in the technology. Unfortunately, Covid-19 pandemic has not allowed the presentation of the OXIR technology in the US, while all the possible mitigation measures has been taken, including on-line actions (webinar, email, social media, press releases, and so on) and a trip to Democratic Republic of Georgia. In order to approach the market in a correct way, the project also included an IPR strategy containing a patentability study for the mobile solution and the patent deposit, plus a Freedom to Operate evaluation covering the whole period of the project. Dissemination actions have been strong, especially on-line, as travel was not possible, meanwhile all the results and milestones where achieved.
The experimental field activity of the OXIR project was organized by the Agri2000 Net Test Center, Castel Maggiore, Bologna, and agronomist Bucchi Renzo, Director of the Experimental Center, who guaranteed the experimental quality of the activities. The experimental tests were located on the national territory in Italy at the agricultural production areas that are among the most suitable and relevant for both production and the parasites presence. Similarly, we operated in Morocco, Spain and the USA where we are working on the realization of a part of the activity. In those areas we will always have the supervision of the agronomist Bucchi on the quality of produced data while working in collaboration with national certified Research Centers. The diseases found in the tests are indigenous diseases that farmers find naturally on their farm. Tests have been carried out in line with the Good Experimental Practices that are adopted throughout Europe and according to the indications in the EPPO guidelines regarding the execution of the experimental test and the collection and processing of field data. All test data are collected and stored in copy in the server of the Agri 2000 Test Center. OXIR gives good results in terms of pest control on treated crops: ozone is not phytotoxic to the plant at the rate used, and it will be very useful to replace some conventional products as well as to be used side by side with some others in pest control strategy. All the results in the field tests are remarkably interesting. Over the project, the mobile prototypes for the distribution of ozonated water has been continuously improved to reach a final version of OXIR mobile sprayer. With the help of subcontractor USMAC we reached a full view on the US and global market landscape and elaborated a pitch to be presented in front of a jury of investors potentially interested in the technology. Unfortunately, Covid-19 pandemic has not allowed the presentation of the OXIR technology in the US, while all the possible mitigation measures has been taken, including on-line actions (webinar, email, social media, press releases, and so on) and a trip to Democratic Republic of Georgia. In order to approach the market in a correct way, the project also included an IPR strategy containing a patentability study for the mobile solution and the patent deposit, plus a Freedom to Operate evaluation covering the whole period of the project. Dissemination actions have been strong, especially on-line, as travel was not possible, meanwhile all the results and milestones where achieved.
OXIR shows a great step over traditional solutions to fight crop pests and diseases, with a significant reduction of residues in the ground and in the aquifers. OXIR indeed overcomes the limitation shown by traditional methods and delivers tangible and direct benefits to its end-users, allowing to do not use synthetic chemical pesticides – posing serious environmental concerns - and bio-pesticides – that are not strongly effective, as their pest spectrum is narrow. Compare to traditional solutions, OXIR is highly effective against a broad spectrum of crops pathogens (fungi, bacteria, viruses) and their spores, efficiently acting on the leave beam and underside by means of the O3 sanitation cloud as O3 drops reach all indoor surfaces; cost-effective: OXIR treatment saves working time compared to biopesticides and phytosanitary products; environmentally sustainable: ozone decomposes naturally into innocuous oxygen leaving zero residues in plants, soil or materials; safe for workers and food consumers: conventional pesticides represent a risk for agricultural operators and consumers whereas OXIR does not leave residues of any kind. OXIR addresses the needs of farmers with the goal of bringing the benefits of OXIR to the European/Mediterranean greenhouse sector (212,000 hectares), by reaching a market penetration of 5% (10,000 ha) in 5 years, ideally providing €12 million/year savings in chemicals and labor for the greenhouse sector. Under optimistic market conditions, OXIR could be installed in just 25% of the EU greenhouse tomato (25,000 ha), thus European agriculture would benefit in €36 million/year savings, including savings in pesticides (€19 million) and work time (€17 million), with a crucial impact on a better environment.