PheroSyn produces identical copies of nature's own pheromones for use in monitoring and control of pests in agriculture and horticulture. Pheromones are used by insects to communicate and are very species specific, meaning that they can be used to attract specific pest targets without affecting other insects, beneficials or pollinators. Every year we lose around £182bn to pests and the diseases that these pests carry, and in order to protect their crops, food producers use tonnes of pesticides most of which do not reach the target pests but instead fall onto the surrounding plants and soils, damaging ecosystems. These chemicals contribute to a decline in biodiversity, to human health conditions such as cancers, endocrine disorders, reproductive disorders, and can remain as contaminants in soils for years. Pest resistance is increasingly making these compounds redundant. PheroSyn's unique and proprietary synthetic methods allow production of agricultural pheromones at scale. The company is focused on producing sustainable alternatives to mass application of pesticides in farming, and its products can form part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system so light in its ecological footprint that it is suitable for organic producers as well as conventional farmers. PheroSyn is committed to assisting in the transition to more ecologically sensitive approaches to managing pests and seeks to see a dramatic decline in the global use of harmful and toxic chemicals in food production. The ability to disrupt pest mating, or otherwise interfere with the population dynamics of pests allows more precise and targeted pest management strategies to be in place. Since the current market is restricted to only a small number of pest targets, new innovations are required to both drive down costs and increase pest targets. PheroSyn achieves both of these goals by using proprietary production methods which are platform in nature and applicable to a wide range of pest targets. The purpose of this funding is to unlock the synthesis of more complex pest pheromones and thereby expand the scope of application of pheromone products, bringing new products to market to the benefit of the company, the producer, the environment, and biodiversity, and facilitating governments and industry to reach net zero ambitions.

PheroSyn is developing sustainable pheromone-based solutions to secure the future of our global food supply. Every year, global food production losses from pests and diseases amount to about £182bn, of which about £4bn occurs in the UK. The solution has always been to spray the fields with pesticides. Certainly, these agrochemicals have had their use in protecting the global food supply, but that has come at a considerable cost to biodiversity and the natural habitat in soils, waterways, and the air that we breathe. We now know that pesticides indiscriminately kill large numbers of insects, including beneficial insects and pollinators. There is resistance in the pest population to certain pesticides and older generation pesticides can persist in soils for up to years. We see significant health issues associated with pesticide use (e.g. some cancers, endocrine disorders, reproductive issues), and globally we have an over-reliance on pesticides. Regulations are being introduced around the world, including the EU ban on neonicotinoids (EU 2018/783-5), and the Farm to Fork Strategy, a key component of the EU Green Deal which seeks to decrease the use of pesticides by 50% by 2030\. Pheromones provide a safe, sustainable alternative to pesticides, with a vastly reduced environmental footprint. These are chemical scents released by pests and insects usually for the purpose of communication. They are species-specific, meaning we can target key pests without destroying non-target pests, and beneficial insects such as pollinators. There appears to be no resistance, no persistence in soils (these are volatile compounds, and so are deployed into the air), and they are effective at low concentrations (e.g. nano-molar). The market is growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13%, set to rise to 25% in coming years to reach $7.1B by 2027, and this contrasts with the pesticide market which is growing at 2-5%. PheroSyn has developed high-value, unavailable pheromones for targets our competitors cannot produce (e.g. midges). Our core competence in synthetic chemistry provides a technology platform for many similar structured, unavailable pheromones. As CEO of PheroSyn, I am delighted to lead such a talented team of scientists with a shared vision of the future. Employing pheromones as exceptionally targeted commercial products we can manage the natural pest populations and produce good quality food, free of pests and diseases, moving ever closer to pesticide free farm management practices.

Strawberries are one of the most commercially important fruit crops in the UK and are good sources of nutrients including vitamin C. Insect pollination is vital to the production of commercial strawberries and is required to ensure a successful and marketable crop. Over or underpollination can lead to low quality and misshapen fruit that is not suitable for sale. Effective pollination can also increase the shelf-life of berries and is likely to influence their nutritional content. This project will further develop acoustic sensors to monitor pollinator activity in strawberry farms. These sensors will identify areas of over/underpollination, which will inform interventions to influence pollinator activity. Growers currently have few options for how to alter pollinator behaviour, therefore as part of this project an attractant/repellent for commercial bumblebee colonies will be developed to influence the foraging of bumblebees over the short-term, especially in young bumblebees. Trials will be done at NIAB to provide data for calibration of sensors with pollinator activity and fruit quality. It will also investigate whether lures affect pollinator activity on a larger scale than initial laboratory trials. Berries will be harvested from these experiments and the fruit quality, nutritional profile and shelf life will be measured to understand the impact of pollinator recruitment to open flowers on these characteristics. This project would have significant benefits for growers, retailers and consumers by: * Improving the nutritional content of strawberries (vitamin C/phenolics/antioxidants) * Increasing marketable yield of strawberries by reducing misshapes associated with under/overpollination * Improving shelf-life of strawberries, reducing in-shop/at-home wastage * Delivering technologies that can be used to improve yield/shelf-life/nutritional-content of other crops reliant on pollination.

Midges are significant global pests of fruit production. Current management of midges is problematic, dominated by application of fossil-fuel based chemical pesticides that impact on beneficial insects and the wider environment detrimentally. In 2018-19 across the UK, over 1.14t of pesticide was applied, often pre-emptively, to an area of 1,034,565 hectares to control midge populations on wheat, blackcurrant, raspberry and pear crops, with 0.02t being applied to 6,953 hectares of pear crops alone. There is a growing global trend to move away from reliance on chemical pesticides in food production in favour of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. The need for IPM strategies is driven by loss in efficacy of pesticides, reduced availability due to legislative regulation, and environmental issues associated with pesticide use. Pheromones form a critical component of IPM strategies, but compared to other crop pests, there are virtually no fruit midge pheromones currently available on the market. This project will develop recent technological advances in designing production routes for midge sex pheromone production between PheroSyn Ltd and Rothamsted Research (RRes). PheroSyn and RRes will, for the first time, develop green-chemistry based production routes for commercial-scale production of the pear gall midge and pear leaf midge sex pheromones using renewable feedstocks. Efficacy of the pheromone products in trapping and monitoring midge populations in fruit production systems will be undertaken by Andermatt Biocontrol UK Ltd a leading supplier of pheromone products to end-users (farmers and growers) in the UK and to continental Europe through the company's well-established network. With production capacity and product validation achieved, Andermatt will market the pheromones for use in fruit production systems from 2023\. The project establishes an innovation partnership across a UK-based supply chain (technology and product development-end user validation-manufacture--distribution) for sale of hitherto-unavailable products that are in demand, into the agribusiness sector, thereby disrupting the long-established chemical pesticide market in food production in favour of IPM Strategies. The project will help PheroSyn and Andermatt accelerate their business growth, supplying effective, long-lasting, safe and affordable pest management tools to farmers and growers worldwide. Availability of the pheromones for use in climate-smart IPM of fruit pests will provide significant social and economic benefit to the UK by producing affordable, safe-to-eat food in a way that promotes zero-carbon agriculture through reduced chemical pesticide manufacture and deployment.

Midges and weevils are significant global pests of legume food production. Management of these pests provides a potentially lucrative and growing market in the pest management industry globally, including in the UK, continental Europe, North Africa and North America, where these pest problems are well established. Management of midges and weevils is problematic; the food harvest can potentially be exposed to pesticides when targeting specific stages of their life cycles, and these pesticides may subsequently enter the human and animal food chain. There is a growing global trend to move away from reliance on chemical pesticides in food production in favour of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. The need for IPM strategies is driven by loss in efficacy of pesticides, reduced availability due to legislative regulation, and environmental issues associated with pesticide use. Pheromones form a critical component of IPM strategies, but compared to other crop pests, there are virtually no legume midge and weevil pheromones currently available on the market. In this project, PheroSyn will, for the first time, develop synthesis routes for commercial-scale production of the pea midge sex pheromone and pea & bean weevil aggregation pheromone. Efficacy of the pheromone products in trapping and monitoring populations of midges and weevils in legume production systems will be undertaken by the UK Processors and Growers Association (PGRO), a centre of excellence for peas and beans, with a long and highly valued track record of providing authoritative, up to date information and project work based on solid, reliable research. With production capacity and product validation achieved, Koppert Biological Systems, a leading supplier of pheromone products to end-users (farmers and growers) in the UK and continental Europe, will market the pheromones for use in legume production systems from 2021\. Koppert have already confirmed their interest in marketing the pheromone products in these territories. The project will establish a supply chain (manufacture -- validation -- distribution) for sale of hitherto-unavailable products that are in demand, into the agribusiness sector, thereby disrupting the long-established chemical pesticides market. The project will help PheroSyn accelerate its' business growth, supplying effective, long-lasting, safe and affordable pest management tools to farmers and growers worldwide. Availability of the pheromones for use in climate-smart IPM of legume pests will provide significant social and economic benefit to the UK by producing affordable, safe-to-eat food in a way that promotes zero-carbon agriculture through reduced chemical pesticide manufacture and deployment.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has affected UK R&D in the manufacture of speciality chemicals using sustainable green chemistry routes (produced adhering to the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry), including pheromones that are used to manage insect pests affecting UK food production systems. The pandemic has delayed, by several months, PheroSyn's proposed R&D activity on developing routes for commercial scale production of midge pheromones where the company was poised to begin developing sustainable and green chemistry routes for midge pheromone production. It is now imperative for the company to drive forward this new innovation of supplying the high-value, not currently available midge pheromones for pest management. Not only will this provide a positive climate impact through reduced pesticide production that use fossil-fuel based feedstocks, but it will also provide sustainable and climate-friendly management of pests through IPM based strategies. Midges are small (ca. 3mm long), fragile flying insects that affect a variety of crops and are a significant global pest of arable and horticultural food production. Midge management is a potentially lucrative and growing market in the pest management industry globally, including in the UK, the EU region, North America and South America, where midge problems are well established. Management of midges is problematic; their life-cycles mean that grains and fruits can be potentially exposed to pesticides which subsequently enter the human and animal food chain. Furthermore, there is a global trend to move away from reliance on chemical pesticides in food production in favour of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. The need for IPM strategies is also driven by loss in efficacy of pesticides, pesticide availability due to legislative regulation, and environmental issues associated with pesticide use. Pheromones form a critical component of IPM strategies, but, compared to other crop pests, there are virtually no midge sex pheromones currently available on the market. PheroSyn already has market-ready midge pheromones in its current portfolio but there is an opportunity to expand this portfolio by developing further new not-currently available midge pheromones into effective commercial products. PheroSyn aims at commercialising insect sex pheromones for sale into the established agribusiness sector, and to capitalise on expertise in novel methods for monitoring and control of a wide range of crop pests important to crop health and production. The objective of this 6-month experimental development project is for PheroSyn to optimise green chemistry routes for the production of two high-value midge pheromones, to be used in midge-specific traps that are capable of detecting early stage infestations of midges in crops. Optimisation of the routes will enable PheroSyn to accelerate business growth, supplying effective, sensitive, long-lasting, safe, affordable and discrete tools to farmers and growers on a global scale. PheroSyn's optimisation of midge pheromone production will be underpinned by the company founders' technical know-how. The PheroSyn team has a combined 40+ years of experience in pest pheromone R&D and pheromone chemistry.