Public Funding for Dyson Farming Limited

Project Pythagoras is a 24-month feasibility study which answers, 'is it possible to develop a protein product or ingredient, profitably and sustainably that is derived from a commercially grown UK crop?' Countries such as Canada, Australia and France are all investing in their pea supply chains to exploit the potential of the developing plant-based market. The UK is well placed to grow peas. Unfortunately though, cropping of peas is not large in area and is often considered a minor or niche crop, so it lacks investment. To encourage farming businesses such as Dyson Farming Ltd, to grow more peas for human consumption we need to have the confidence of reliable returns and routes to market. Project Pythagoras will improve the knowledge of growing a pea crop which is suited for human-consumed protein products. Through this project, Dyson Farming Ltd will trial novel techniques of growing peas with the aim to improve the protein availability in the resulting crop. University of Lincoln will provide a deep understanding of how each growing technique impacted on the crops functionality and nutritional value as a protein product or ingredient. This consortium is passionate about raising awareness of the importance of peas in sustainable food production and healthy diets. Pulses have been grown in the UK for centuries and, as nitrogen-fixing legumes, they fit well with the government and farming industry's objectives for sustainable production and net-zero emissions over the coming next decades.

Potato growing uses intensive soil cultivation and very large inputs of inorganic nutrients, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. Large amounts of energy are also used in cooled store to prevent post-production sprouting prior to consumer use. This result in continuous degradation of farm soil organic matter, and large emissions of CO2 and N2O, two major greenhouse gases. TRIP-Transformative Reduced input in potatoes, is a 36 months research program, will develop a regenerative method to address all of the above problems, and provide cost-competitive solutions to potato farmers. TRIP- is based on reduced/no-tillage using farm waste as mulch, innovative plant nutrition approaches, and use of novel low-input potato cultivars having natural long dormancy, and integrated pest management approaches. It will increase soil organic matter, lower needs of chemical inputs (fertilizer, pesticides), reducing also the associated contamination of water, with positive effects on wildlife and bioversity. TRIP- will also contribute to Net Zero. It will demonstrate that using regenerative methods for potato growing will both reduce the GHG emissions and build soil organic matter and its sequestration of carbon. It will provide substantial saving in nitrogen fertilisers, fuel for machinery and for cooled storage used in potato production (major components of the potato production carbon footprint), which will also contribute to Net Zero. TRIP 3-year project outputs will include data on productivity and GHG emissions for combination of cultivation methods and a breeding strategy. Outputs will be reported at demonstration and conferences.

Cereal grains are the basis of staple food, yet post-harvest losses during long-term storage are exceptionally high, above 20% in the UK and worldwide. Pests are to blame, with grain moisture content and temperature being the most significant factors. Cereal storage sites such as farms, grain merchants, millers and breweries, experience these challenges, which have high cost implications in terms of lost revenue and cost to rectify. The scope of this feasibility study is to develop a novel non-contact sensor for non-contact grain analysis able to detect specific molecular compounds within a radius of up to a few tens of centimetres, based on a novel miniaturised sensing technology, and to integrate it onto the ever-improving CROVER robot, the world's first 'underground drone', which fluently 'swims' grain bulks and which is at the core of the CROVER autonomous Grain Storage Management system. This will allow for the potential readings that go far beyond the typical grain storage safety parameter (humidity and temperature, which we will still provide). During the project, we will focus on some of the most prominent variables of grain storage and grain quality: proteins and mycotoxins. Down the line, the result of this project is expected to allow for the expansion of the parameters that we will be able to measure, including specific nutrients (amino-acid composition, fatty acid composition and FFAs presence and quantity and - particularly relevant for oilseeds), or insect presence and species identification (including at eggs and larval stages) aligned with different customer requirements. The rationale for this project is aligned with the arable sector (and of the whole grain value chain) need for novel and alternative crop protection solutions, in support of the current push toward holistic Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approaches.