UK agtech start-up Airponix and Dyson Farming have started a two-year research and demonstration project to find out whether England can produce its own disease-free seed potatoes, AgNavigator reported. The project is funded through Defra's Farming Innovation Programme and delivered by Innovate UK, and runs until April 2028.
It focuses on Generation Zero (G0) seed potatoes, the first disease-free generation from which all later seed is multiplied, usually three or four times before it reaches commercial growers as G3 or G4. "England has not produced G0 seed potatoes for decades if at all," said Airponix founder and chief executive Michael Ruggier, and sourcing good disease-free seed, mostly from Scotland and abroad, is getting harder. Plans to phase out peat in growing by 2030 add to the need for new propagation methods.
Unlike conventional aeroponics, which sprays roots with water, Airponix surrounds suspended roots with an ultra-fine, nutrient-rich fog in a closed, sterile space, which the company says lets plants take up water, nutrients and oxygen more efficiently. The trial at Dyson Farming's research glasshouse uses four "A-frames" holding more than 6,000 plants, natural light and no peat. Cameras watch roots, leaves and tuber formation around the clock, and AI analysis lets growers adjust the fog and fertiliser mix for each variety and growth stage. Tubers can be picked at the right size through the season rather than dug all at once.
The technology already runs commercially in Saudi Arabia, in a 940 m² facility built for NADEC that produces about one million mini-tubers a year from 33,000 plants using about 3 m³ of water a day. Airponix is aiming for production costs less than half those of existing methods. The project will also track how the seed performs through several field generations compared with conventionally produced certified seed. UK demand for G0 seed potatoes is 3.5 to 4 million tubers a year, according to the company.
Photo: Makampanda / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: AgNavigator
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