The SporeDRONES project is led by Geo.Geo Ltd. in partnership with the James Hutton Institute, Allium & Brassica Agronomy, Vegetable Consultancy Service Ltd., East of Scotland Growers, and James Hutton Ltd. Our aim is to combine unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology with portable molecular diagnostic tools to provide early detection of airborne inoculum of crop pathogens. Air sampling for crop pathogens is currently limited to static ground based monitoring, whereas the proposed mobile aerial system will be able to rapidly sweep large geographic areas at multiple heights in the atmosphere using a single piece of equipment and provide rapid pathogen identification. Results will be transformed into actionable information and maps using cloud-based technology and desktop / web-based GIS environments combined with newly developed epidemiological models. This will enable a targeted and rapid response to disease outbreaks and an effective tool for communicating risks to a wide audience. SporeDRONES can be used for: (i) intense surveillance of areas where there is a high likelihood of disease outbreaks; (ii) rapid response to local outbreaks; (iii) risk assessment to confirm the presence of inoculum and define the areas for eradication and protection measures; (iv) advanced warning at larger regional- and landscape-scales; and (v) follow-up surveillance to confirm that aerobiological threats have been eliminated. SporeDRONES will serve as a platform technology to which other diagnostic tools and epidemiological models can be added. It is recognised that the biosecurity of island nations is particularly vulnerable with the spread and establishment of new pests and pathogens through aerial transmission and infected plant material, the latter driven by global commerce. Both pathways of invasion depend upon a favourable climate for the establishment of the pest and pathogen. The biosecurity fragility of the UK is further enhanced with the current trajectory of a changing climate to warmer and wetter weather patterns ideal for many oomycete mediated diseases. SporeDRONES offers a genuine opportunity to mitigate the impact of new (and exisiting) aerial pests and pathogens by developing a holistic package from sampling to actionable information that would provide a rapid and user friendly early warning platform for growers and agronomists. Whilst developed and validated against two diseases, potato late blight and onion downy mildew, the platform technology is flexible and can be easily transferred and deployed onto other pest and pathogens.

Fusarium basal rot (FBR) is a disease caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cepae (FOC) that infects the roots and basal plate of onions leading to severe pre- and postharvest losses. Onions can become infected with FOC at any time during crop growth, but the biggest losses occur after harvest when asymptomatic bulbs extensively rot in store. Entire stores can be lost if disease levels rise above \>10-15% since it is unfeasible to rogue out infected bulbs. FOC is an increasing problem for UK onion growers due to climate warming, with warmer wetter summers favouring disease development. Critically, there are no effective control options and annual UK crop losses are increasing, leading to contraction of the industry in terms of both land plated and grower numbers. The industry desperately needs ways to assess FBR risk and manage the disease at different production stages, and as early as possible, to reduce losses. We have assembled a multidisciplinary team to implement novel detection and control approaches to FBR. The team's expertise spans remote sensing, onion agronomy, laboratory science and fundamental biology, enabling us to follow a holistic approach that covers the onion production from soil to store. This affords maximum flexibility and adaptability to provide a range of solutions including: \*A molecular diagnostic tool to measure Fusarium levels in soil and assess the risk of FBR pre-planting. \*Enhanced knowledge of agronomic factors affecting FBR expression and field-level management options to control FBR. \*A vision system to early detect FBR-infected onions in the field and during harvest. \*Smell-based sensor technologies to detect FBR-infected onions in early stages of storage. We intend to provide UK onion growers with a suite of FBR monitoring and mitigation options with the potential to reduce the prevalence of FBR by 50%. The anticipated impact of our project will be reducing the \>£10M annual losses due to FBR, and hence substantially improve the long-term productivity and resilience of the sector. This will give growers confidence to expand planted area and, in turn, allow the UK to reduce reliance on some of the ~300,000 tonnes of bulb onions that are currently imported annually. Reducing waste from FBR-infected onions will also improve sustainability of the industry by ensuring that financially valuable and carbon-intensive inputs for onion production are not lost.

The INSPeCT project focuses on improving the nutritional quality of carrots and parsnips by developing new and innovative post-harvest storage practices, removing or minimising the need for in-field storage. Presently, the future sustainability of the sector is at risk from high crop wastage and production costs, coupled with a need to ensure carrots and parsnips remain affordable for consumers. Reducing the cost and quality losses associated with in-field storage would significantly contribute to this, whilst also leading to crop nutritional benefits. Our approach will encompass benchmarking of nutritional and aesthetic quality characteristics and how agronomy and processing methods impact on these. Utilising this information, we will optimise these steps to minimise degradation throughout production and processing. Alongside optimising current processes we will also explore new and novel technologies to improve post-harvest storage.