Every year, between 20-40% of food production across the globe is lost to fungal disease, according to the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology.
As the leading cause of crop disease, managing fungi is crucial to maintaining and improving yields and the high quality of Australia’s crops.
Enter BioScout – an Australian start-up that has developed a disease detection device to track the spread of airborne diseases like fusarium, rust and septoria in crops such as cereals and oilseeds.
While the current common practise for airborne disease sampling in crops takes around three weeks to provide results, BioScout uses in field hardware devices that sample and analyse the air for fungal pathogens and pollen present in the crop, giving real-time detection and tracking of airborne diseases.
GrainCorp Ventures has invested in BioScout’s software, which provides growers with an understanding of disease threats within three days.
The technology is a gamechanger in helping growers to act on disease threats quickly, enabling them to spray even more accurately and efficiently.
BioScout Founder and CEO Lewis Collins says the information can help growers to reduce their spray application by upwards of 15% while lowering the risk of crop losses.
“For the first time, we’re providing farmers with the data they need to see what fungal diseases are affecting their crops in real time,” says Lewis.
“We’ve seen farmers reduce their spray programs from intensive seven-day cycles, out to 21-day cycles – that’s a big win for efficiency and sustainability on-farm.”
BioScout currently has 140 devices on farms around Australia, monitoring the air and effectively providing a type of surveillance network that maps disease outbreaks, as well as historical weather data.
According to GrainCorp National Grain Husbandry Manager Patrick Wilson, this technology is essential to improving disease control.
“Information is the best form of pest management, especially for the early identification of new outbreaks,” says Patrick.
“BioScout’s data gives us the opportunity to match seasons with seasons, enabling us to look at what climatic conditions occurred at the time of an outbreak which could help anticipate future threats,” Patrick says.
GrainCorp Investments Manager Jordan Jeffery says the investment in BioScout is an exciting addition to the portfolio.
“We’ve been working with BioScout for several months and can already see the value they’re adding to growers in terms of profitability, sustainability and disease management,” says Jordan.
“GrainCorp Ventures is committed to enhancing the future of sustainable agriculture and food production and BioScout is helping us achieve this by supporting growers to detect and manage airborne disease in grains,” Jordan says.
Read more about our investments here.
