Insects are nature's recyclers, turning waste into valuable resources. However, we've largely ignored their potential in our food systems. With a growing global population and increasing demand for protein, we need innovative solutions to reduce waste and make our food production more sustainable. Insect bioconversion, particularly using black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), offers an exciting opportunity to address these challenges. These insects can efficiently convert organic waste into high-quality protein and fats, which can be used as animal feed. This process could help reduce our reliance on imported soy and fishmeal, decrease food waste, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The UK has several start-ups working on this technology, but regulatory hurdles are holding back progress. Current regulations prohibit using insect-derived products in most animal feeds and restrict the types of waste that can be used to rear insects. This project aims to: * Gather evidence on the safety and effectiveness of insect bioconversion * Engage with regulators to update the regulatory landscape * Unlock the potential for significant private investment in this industry. By addressing these challenges, we could create thousands of green jobs, making our food system more circular. With the right support, insect bioconversion could revolutionise our approach to waste management and sustainable food production, positioning the UK as a leader in this emerging field. Globally, over $1bn has been raised since 2020 to support the growth of the sector, with hundreds of companies developing technologies to support insect farming, with over a thousand published papers on the topic. This project builds on the work undertaken during the Discovery Phase to fully establish a regulatory science network to further inform insect bioconversion regulatory policy and practice, and contribute to a pro-innovation regulatory environment that benefits society. This will unlock the significant private sector investment needed to scale up the insect farming sector to realise the potential of insect bioconversion, which offers substantial societal and environmental benefits, including enhanced food security, reduced waste, and lower carbon emissions in our food systems, in line with key government priorities. It represents a unique opportunity to harness nature's own solutions to create a more sustainable and resilient food system for future generations.

As a result of global warming, heatwaves and record-breaking high temperatures are becoming more frequent, longer lasting, and intense in the UK. The summer of 2022 marked a new milestone in UK climate history, with 40°C recorded for the first time in the country. Today, 20% of fresh tomatoes consumed in the UK are produced domestically. In its Food Strategy, the UK government pledged to help UK growers become more competitive. In a warming climate, this requires access to tools to improve the resilience of glasshouse crops to heat stress. This feasibility study will identify the strengths and weaknesses of a new type of biostimulant technology in improving the productivity, heat resilience, profitability and sustainability of tomato production in the UK. The biostimulant is a single-molecule formulation whose active ingredient is inspired by trehalose-6-phosphate, a natural sugar that plays a key role on carbon use and allocation in plants. Our consortium is led by SugaROx, the technology developer, and includes Fera, the British Tomato Growers' Association and ADAS. Our work plan includes a range of knowledge exchange activities with UK tomato growers. If you want to engage with us to learn more about our study, please contact Bianca Forte, SugaROx Business Development Director, via LinkedIn.

Insect bioconversion (IBC) refers to the utilisation of insects in converting organic biomass wastes (such as food wastes) into sustainable inputs for food, feed and non-food industries. Although core regulation in place currently in the UK allows for some forms of IBC to take place legally and compliantly, at present there remains a large gap in producers' abilities of to leverage the power of IBC to maximise organic biomass waste valorisation domestically. In particular, it is currently illegal to use many types of organic wastes, such as animal product containing food wastes or manures, to farm insects on -- even when the insect in question, such as maggots, thrive in such environments naturally. This project will seek to bring together producers, technologists, academics and regulators working in IBC, with the goal of further unlocking IBC use in the UK beyond existing practices, whilst ensuring safe and responsible practices.

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 available, helping to decide which antimicrobial to use. However, the mastitis treatment protocols integrating on-farm diagnostics are rapidly changing with some data now available to demonstrate that gram-negative infections are likely to result in self-cure. Therefore, appropriate quality assurance should be considered for a successful on-farm diagnostic test. The use of diagnostics is widely recognised as a powerful tool for improving animal health, 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 system integration and a slow pace of diagnosis. As a result, massive inefficiencies in logistics, increased wastage, and a lack of evidence for key policy making, especially for the dairy industry exist. In this project, the consortium will build upon work completed in IUK project 105144 for the rapid target identification of mastitis pathogens capable of identifying 16 different pathogens, facilitating specific diagnosis. Delivering fast (~1hr), low-cost testing whilst maintaining excellent sensitivity/specificity. A specific innovation focuses on the combination species panel of target microorganisms included in the diagnostic, enabling the discrimination of contaminated samples and identifies the pathogens present in each sample, informing treatment decisions. By developing a novel hardware and software solution to collate and share diagnostic results, it is hoped that animal health and welfare will be improved and protected, farm productivity maximised through disease reduction and logistical barriers relating to expression of expected milk yield can be overcome.

The markets for carbon and other environmental goods need enhanced integrity. Trading requires confidence. Skylark communicates the relevant information to the relevant parties to supply that confidence. It will, in effect, oil the wheels of change to make NetZero (and associated environmental benefits) a reality. Skylark recognises that the interface between raw data and meaningful information is rarely afforded the important status it deserves. This is Skylark's priority and the key focus in the delivery of NetZero: to make data intuitive and understandable. As the Geospatial Commission states ("Finding Common Ground", 2023), decisions around land use are complex both in terms of biophysical attributes and human relationships both with nature and others. A holistic view across landscapes is needed to understand the trade-offs and avoid unintended outcomes, This project will form the template to enhance land-use decision making for individuals and organisations nationally and globally. Specifically, this will entail delivery of a comprehensive application of Skylark to transition 1,000 acres at the Castle Howard Estate. The data required to determine planning, projections and monetising of Carbon offsetting, will be digitally rendered in 3D. This compares the impact of each decision over each habitat. It means the landowner and acquirer of carbon credits can play out scenarios in advance without committing to them until they are sure they deliver the maximum benefit, by: 1. Sequestering the optimal Carbon over a 30yr term 2. Generating the optimal BNG over a 30yr term 3. Understanding viability of the project as part of the whole Estate 4. Developing end-state AR interpretation for public communication and education Skylark will deliver our revolutionary Landscape-scale Augmented Reality (AR) technology through Skylark Air to take the Analytics onto the ground. Through the bespoke Castle Howard App (ARCH), Skylark's AR programme, Skylark Air, will allow the user to understand the impact of decisions by simply pointing the camera at the landscape. The enrichment of applied land management, and its drive towards NetZero will be brought to life for decision-makers and the public. Translating data-led management into effective communication with the public will democratise NetZero. By bringing the data to the public attention and setting it in the landscape, Skylark will garner support in daily routines and public perception of the custodians of land.

Black Soldier Fly (BSF) farming is now widely accepted as a key solution to tackling some of the world's biggest challenges in agriculture. BSF can simultaneously recycle food waste into insect-based animal feed (a sustainable alternative to fishmeal) and biofertiliser (a sustainable alternative to chemical fertilisers). This highly complex farming system requires input from experts across research, governmental and commercial sectors. No single organisation is currently in possession of all the required expertise. Whilst hundreds of scientific papers and millions of pounds have been invested globally into validating the transformative potential of BSF farming techniques, the race is still on to demonstrate large-scale, profitable BSF farming operations. The UK is home to leading BSF specialists with expertise covering the entire value chain. In 2017, partners in this application formed the UK Insect Biomass Conversion Working Group (IBCWG) to combine their expertise with the shared idea that together our combined knowledge is greater than the sum of its parts. In isolation, we are leading specialists in entomology, engineering, data analytics, machine vision, food safety and food supply chains but, together, we can deploy highly profitable and sustainable BSF farming systems. This project provides an exciting opportunity to combine our expertise and collective ambition to establish the UK as the global industry leader by developing a complete BSF farming system that is **profitable**, **sustainable** and **scalable** to leapfrog global competition. This project will realise the transformative nature of BSF farming by: * Delivering system demonstrators that converts industrial quantities of food waste into insect-based animal feed and biofertilizer using our groundbreaking, highly automated technology; * Generating the data to prove that BSF farming is **profitable**, **low carbon** and **scalable** in the UK; * Validating the **safety** and **efficacy** of **insect-based animal feed** and **biofertiliser**; and * Prove product safety and address the final legislative bottlenecks. By proving the above, we **unlock access to growth finance** which will enable us to **rapidly scale** the BSF farming industry in the UK and overseas. The partners intend to establish the UK as an international centre of excellence for BSF farming and technology. By 2040, we aim to have delivered over 100 sites internationally, create 3300 UK based jobs, generated combined annual revenues of £400m for UK tax paying businesses and delivered savings of **50m tonnes CO2** equivalent \[IBCWG\] - driving us towards the Government's targets for **net zero emissions**.

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 interface with the entire supply chain, without considerable efforts from the veterinary surgeon or farmer. As a result, massive inefficiencies in logistics, increased wastage and a lack of evidence for key policy making, especially for the dairy industry exist. In this project, the consortium will attempt to a) expand the impact of _currently available_ diagnostic tests, developed by the consortium and designed to help vets choose a suitable treatment outcome, and targetted antibiotic therapy where appropriate and b) create new targeted modules relevant for the dairy industry. By developing a novel hardware and software solution to collate and share diagnostic results, it is hoped that animal health and welfare will be improved and protected, farm productivity maximised through disease reduction and logistical barriers relating to expression of expected milk yield can be overcome.

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) traceability systems that can transfer appropriate information to stakeholders along the supply chain to maintain higher quality levels and reduce losses. The findings from the first technology are expected to help growers to achieve a better orchard management around pruning, blossom management and harvest dates, which will eventually increase yields and quality in a sustainable manner, reducing inefficient inputs of fertiliser and pesticides. The second will ensure not only the reduced losses but also that quality attributes can be linked to particular producers as well as production techniques, management of the crop, and harvest dates. Thus the two parts of the project are interlinked

The project aims to develop a product that can be used in conjunction with insecticides to enhance their effectiveness. Through improving the activity of insecticides, the product will facilitate reduced application rates in the field and contribute to the aim of lowering the quantities of synthetic insecticides used in agriculture and horticulture. The product will be made from materials extracted from non-crop plant sources and synergism of insecticides will derive from the inhibition of the enzymes responsible for their detoxification. This synergism will not only enhance insecticide activity in the field, it will also uncouple metabolic resistance in populations of pests that have developed tolerance to a given insecticidal compound. The innovation will have various benefits, including abrogating resistance, enabling more efficient pest control and reducing the environmental impact that insecticide applications currently have.