A continuously growing world population as well as global warming and climate instability will increasingly challenge the ability of mankind to manage pests and diseases of cultivated plants. Concerns over negative effects of pesticides on the environment and on human health cause an increasing demand for environmentally sustainable production systems and “clean food”. Accordingly, the European Parliament has adopted legislation (Directive 2009/128/EC) aiming at reducing the use of chemical plant protection products and calling for an in-depth reconsideration of crop protection solutions throughout Europe.
The BioProtect project contributes to reducing the application of chemical pesticides through further development of a bacterial dsRNA-production platform for the delivery of stable and efficient dsRNA formulations for cost-effective crop protection. This technology will be prepared for readiness to climate change by producing dsRNA agents that are stable and effective at different temperatures, thus under global warming conditions. dsRNA is a nature-derived and environmentally safe molecule that occurs in all organisms and is rapidly degraded in soils. When dsRNA is applied as a crop protection agent, it acts as a strong defense activator that enhances the ability of plants to defend themselves using their own cellular mechanisms.
*At the time of the proposal. Please consider this data as an accurate estimate; it may vary during the project’s lifespan.
Total costs include in kind contribution by grant holders and can therefore be higher than the total requested funding.