Optisense Limited

Increased international trade is moving plant material and their pests globally, whilst climate change is extending their new and natural ranges. Non-native pests are regulated by Defra and the diversity of pests, materials and pathways through which they can arrive make early detection problematic. The biosecurity front line, the Animal and Plant Health ...

Whilst the need to produce more food from a smaller area of land has never been greater, we still lose 1/3 of all crops to pests (invertebrates, bacteria, fungi and viruses). Increased global trade is moving plant material and their pests globally, whilst climate change is extending their new and natural ranges. Non-native pests are regulated by Defra and...

Apple scab and downy mildew are devastating diseases of apple orchards and vineyards, respectively. They are spread by airborne spores and, if left untreated, cause significant losses to growers. Currently, growers control these diseases by frequent applications of fungicides (up to 15 treatments annually in apples and 10 in vineyards), which are costly t...

Clinical mastitis is one of the major causes for antimicrobial use on dairy cattle farms. There is evidence to demonstrate that on-farm tests help motivate and engage farm staff with the control of mastitis, but continuous monitoring of farm protocols and procedures is required by the herd's vet. There are now many options for on-farm mastitis diagnostics...

The use of diagnostics is widely recognised as a powerful tool for improving animal health as well as food hygiene and safety, with a wide variety of diagnostic tests available using a variety of biochemical and physical techniques. However, a common challenge to most diagnostics tools used in agriculture/veterinary medicine is a lack of ability to interf...

Red Apple is looking to develop and implement technological innovation in the China and UK apple production systems to increase yield and quality as well as reduce supply chain losses. The project is testing two technologies: 1) spectral cameras that can identify plant stresses due to, for example, water or nutrient imbalances or pest and disease; 2) trac...

Controlling disease relies on early and accurate diagnosis informing timely and targeted intervention strategies. Good resistance management is based on minimising the levels of exposure of the target pathogen to the fungicide, only spraying where the risk warrants treatment. Knowledge of the resistance status of a field population will allow specific tar...

National survey data show fungicide use on wheat continues to increase despite fluctuations in disease pressure, reaching a 30 year high in 2012 (Defra). Septoria tritici is the most significant foliar disease in UK wheat causing between £43 to 53M in yield losses annually; control is by fungicide application costing £82M annually (GFK Kynetec 2013). Yell...

This project will develop a system for rapid detection of hazardous bacteria in foodstuffs. The system is highly innovative, and will be easy to use by food handlers, and farm workers, without needing to send samples to third parties for analysis. This system will help to improve food safety and reduce infections in humans, which will increase consumer co...

Background The research work is being undertaken by a consortium of research and industry based technologists, scientists and poultry producers. The aim is to develop a rapid test system that can be used with great accuracy to evaluate on the farm whether the flock is carrying in its visceral tract the campylobacter’s of C Jejuni or C Coli. The bacterium ...

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