Public Funding for Zayndu Ltd

The SIGNAL project takes Zayndu's unique seed disinfection system and, with input from the UK and EU's major seed producers, scales it to full production capacities - with machines capable of processing up to 120 litres of seeds in a single batch. The Zayndu process is unique in that it disinfects seeds using only ambient air and electricity; yet it effectively destroys pathogens and boosts germination rates. It does this through activating the air using a plasma at room temperature and pressure, without expensive vacuum pumps or noble gases. The "Activated Air" forms a powerful disinfectant which not only destroys pathogens, it also boosts the germination rates of many crops. This is a timely development for the agricultural market, which is facing a double-whammy; the EU's Green Deal has introduced legislation which rightly restricts the use of many key agricultural chemicals due to environmental and health concerns. As a result farmers have lost the means to reduce contamination in the fields and seeds coming to the seed producers carry higher levels of contamination than ever before; yet those same chemicals are what the seed producers use to disinfect the seeds. Interest in "organic" seed disinfection processes has never been higher. Zayndu's technology has application in many sectors in the seeds market; current systems are suitable for high-value, small-batch seeds. SIGNAL delivers the larger machines required for mainstream vegetable seed production and sets Zayndu on course to become a significant player in the global AgTech market.

Conventional and organic agriculture are highly dependent on various agro-chemicals to ensure that field grown crops are free from disease and satisfy production volume needs. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) has moved growing crops for consumption away from fields and the disease pressures that come from the open air and soils. This has massively reduced the need for agro-chemicals but there is still some way to go. It is still uneconomical to produce seeds in CEA facilities and so these are produced outside. The result is that the outer shell of the seed is now the main source of diseases that enter CEA production. When a disease takes hold in CEA, it can be devastating as the conditions that a plant thrives in, are the same as those a fungus or bacteria will. It is possible to treat seeds with agro-chemicals to remove these pathogens, but that is not desirable for both environmental and consumer driven needs. One of the focuses of our project is to scale up and further develop a non-chemical seed pre-treatment method that uses only air and electricity to kill any fungi or bacteria on the surface of the seed without harming the embryonic plant contained within it. Reducing the disease pressure isn't all that is needed. As many crops have been extensively bred and selected for field growth, the key characteristics that breeders have focused on are generally to make the plant resistant to diseases which reduces crop losses for the farmer. As these characteristics are less important to CEA, we can take this opportunity to select varieties that have better characteristics for the grower and the consumer such as higher yielding, more nutrient dense varieties. We will do this by carrying out crop trials as well as using DNA sequencing techniques to allow us to pinpoint molecular signposts in the genetic code of CEA suitable varieties. By looking at the DNA, we will be able to translate our discoveries in spinach into other plants more easily. When these two approaches are combined, a more nutritious, CEA focused crop can be grown free from threat of disease and use of agro-chemicals. The advances made within the project will also benefit the UK economy as well as the consumer as the partners that have come together also market technology and solutions to the global agricultural industry.

"Global food demand is set to grow by 43% in the next 30 years (UN Food & Agricultural Organisation); and yet agricultural land per head of population is falling, with a 20% drop from 2004 to 2014 (World Bank). This squeeze on food production is driving intense focus on agricultural efficiency; this project develops a low-cost technology which can be part of the solution. Seeds are naturally infected with a range of bacteria and fungi, some of which are catastrophic to the resultant harvest. A well-established route to enhancing agricultural yield is sterilising seeds before sowing - reducing the risk of diseased crops or catastrophic crop failure. This is commonly implemented with treatments involving steam, hot water, chemicals and pesticides. Such approaches can cause significant reductions in the germination rates of seeds, and many of the chemicals in use are becoming regulated -- as harmful side effects become known. Additionally, these processes dictate post-processing -- such as drying, which is costly and time consuming. Zayndu's approach is to use non-vacuum plasma to sterilise seeds. This process is low cost and organic, offering significant benefits; eliminating toxic chemicals - and the need for post-process drying. This project scales the system into a product with industrial capacity levels. It also builds a commercial organisation capable of exploiting the products, secures first customer installations and creates the platform for investment. Zayndu's non-vacuum plasma technology has low running costs, using only air and electricity to clean seeds and has been tested to industry standards. With no chemicals involved, it offers low-cost, environmentally-friendly seed sterilisation - helping satisfy the world's growing food demand by offering non-diseased crops with high germination rates. The business potential is significant - the treated seed market is forecast to be worth $91.32B in 2022, while sales of seed sterilisation equipment are projected to reach $842M at that time (Markets & Markets, 2017). The innovation and project are timely. Zayndu's technology can make infected seeds and low germination rates a thing of the past, while also eliminating the environmental load of the chemicals it replaces."