AgriWave which is developing an environmentally friendly biopesticide to tackle one of the EU’s most financially devastating pest species, the Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle (CSFB), has secured approximately €690,000 in commercialisation funding from Enterprise Ireland.

Specialist 12-month agrifood technology innovation programme

AgriWave has emerged from the Food and Agriculture Sustainable Technology Innovation Programme (FAST-IP), a specialist 12-month agrifood technology innovation programme delivered by the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering and NovaUCD in partnership with Teagasc under the Innovators’ Initiative Programme.

The AgriWave commercialisation funded project team will now work to develop their biopesticide and plan their route to market, with the goal being to spin out as a company in the coming years and will be led by Professor Vincent Kelly at Trinity College Dublin.

Professor Nick Holden, UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering and academic director, FAST-IP, said: "It is fantastic to see the progress of the FAST-IP alumni team, AgriWave, in securing Enterprise Ireland commercialisation funding. It is a brilliant example of how our programme empowers our teams to reach out and collaborate with leading research institutions across the broader university ecosystem.”

The CSFB is currently wreaking havoc on European winter oilseed rape (WOSR) crops due to its widespread resistance to current “pyrethroid” pesticide options. WOSR is a high profit margin crop, but the scale of the problem is such that the EU industry is losing more than €1bn annually. The CSFB is responsible for over 4 million tonnes of lost crop each year and the UK alone has lost 50% of its crop and gone from a net exporter to a net importer.

And the problem is not merely financial, as WOSR Farmers across the UK, France, Germany and Poland are losing confidence in the crop, causing cultivation areas to collapse and threatening Europe's supply chain for food, feed, and biofuel.

As such, there is an urgent need for an effective control option but given the pressing need to develop more environmentally friendly, sustainable pesticides that don’t have negative impacts on key pollinators, something special is needed.  

AgriWave team members, Prof Vincent Kelly, principal investigator and AgriWave academic lead at Trinity College Dublin with Richard Grant and Niels O’Flanagan.

Professor Vincent Kelly, principal investigator and AgriWave academic lead at Trinity College Dublin, said: “AgriWave is addressing one of the most pressing issues facing modern agriculture, which is the growing loss of effective crop protection from pests. Farmers are left with fewer effective options as insects develop resistance to current sprays, and any new solutions must also factor in the need to better protect our environment for future generations.

'New, effective, environmentally friendly insecticides'

“Through support from the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund, and the Trinity Innovation & Enterprise team, we are applying cutting-edge scientific methods to deliver just such solutions, new, effective, environmentally friendly insecticides. Over the next two years, we aim to develop the active ingredient, validate efficacy in the lab and progress to early field testing and prepare the commercial foundations for an Irish-based spin-out.”

Other key members of the AgriWave team are Richard Grant and Niels O’Flanagan, commercial leads, who both completed the FAST-IP programme, and Emma O'Neill, Life Sciences Case Manager from Trinity Research & Innovation, who will help in supporting IP protection and knowledge transfer.

Emma Callinan, head of research commercialisation, Enterprise Ireland, said: “Enterprise Ireland is proud to support the AgriWave team as they advance innovative research with the potential to deliver real impact for the agri-food sector. AgriWave’s success highlights the strength of Ireland’s research ecosystem and the importance of programmes such as FAST-IP in developing the next generation of high-potential spin-out companies.”

FAST-IP provided the environment, expertise and springboard for AgriWave to identify an internationally important crop in crisis and develop a solution to address it.

Dr Siobhán Jordan, head of technology transfer and commercialisation, Teagasc, said: “AgriWave demonstrates the value of FAST-IP in supporting talented innovators to translate research-led ideas into sustainable solutions for agriculture. We welcome this Enterprise Ireland support and look forward to seeing the team progress towards commercial impact.”

'Transform innovative ideas into practical solutions'

Naomi Flood, managing authority, European Regional Development Fund, said: “AgriWave is an excellent example of how the FAST-IP programme is helping to transform innovative ideas into practical solutions. By addressing a significant agricultural and environmental challenge, the project has the potential to support more sustainable farming while creating new opportunities for enterprise and regional growth.”

AgriWave is now the third project from the inaugural FAST-IP programme to have received Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Funding in addition to BiCO and Mehal.

Prof Holden added: “Three of the teams from our inaugural FAST-IP programme have now successfully secured approximately €1.9m in commercialisation funding from Enterprise Ireland to progress the translation of their projects into commercially viable start-ups over the next two years. I wish AgriWave and also the BiCO and Mehal teams every success."

The Innovators' Initiative Programme is co-funded by the government and the European Union through the Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027.