The PestNu project targets agroecological and organic practices to reduce pesticide use, following EU strategies and increasingly restrictive regulations regarding the use of conventional products.

Fertinagro designed a biofungicide with fungistatic capacity against the foliar phytopathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea providing also a biostimulant effect. Moreover, this product is effective against mildew infections.

The biopesticide was designed based on a circular economy approach, using by-products such as agricultural and food
waste as raw materials. It is composed of:

Potassium carbonate
Surfactant
Humectant
Vegetable extracts
Water

Its final market price would be approximately 15€ / 500cc.

Within PestNu field trials, two tests were carried out (CDTA, Murcia, Spain), one in June 2022 using a pepper crop, and one from December to January 2023 using lettuce plants. However, no fungal infections appeared in the first trial. The fungicide-treated lettuce plants showed traces of chemicals on the leaves, while the PestNu plants (biopesticide) were free of contaminants.

Regarding the fungal attack in the first lettuce crop, 20% of the lettuce analysed presented severe damage by fungi (mildew) when using a conventional pesticide, while only 5% of lettuce suffered from severe damage when using PestNu biopesticide. In the second lettuce crop, after a conventional fungicide treatment, 13.5% of analysed lettuce was severely damaged, compared to 19% damage found for PestNu-treated plants, while the % of partially damaged lettuce was very similar in both treatments.

Taking into account that we are comparing the effect of the biofungicide PestNu with chemical pesticides, the results are promising.

Among its goals of demonstrating agroecological practices, PestNu focuses on the implementation of organic fertilisation plans by Fertinagro, using organic fertilisers and biostimulants, for better use of soil nutrients. 
Nutritional programs priorities:
• Edaphic regeneration
• Rhizosphere nutrition
• Metabolic potentiation of the plant

The aim is to support supporting higher-quality organic crops with yields equal to or higher than conventional fertilisation, improving soil quality. Although it may be more expensive than traditional fertilization, soil regeneration and care lead to a more balanced production. It is also an effective and sustainable tool in hydroponics and aquaponics systems.

In PestNu, a nutritional program is being applied to tomato, cucumber and lettuce crops in open field, aquaponics and hydroponics.

Open field trials conducted in Spain (CDTA) with tomato and lettuce plants resulted in similar yields compared to their conventional counterparts. Fertinagro's biofertiliser helped increase commercial yield (within ideal weight).

However, root toxicity was recorded in a trial performed in an aquaponic system (Tilamur, Spain) after mixing two biostimulants. New trials are underway using the biostimulants separately.

Promising results were obtained in aquaponic and hydroponic trials (University of Thessaly, Greece) when foliar spraying two liquid biostimulants on lettuce and tomato crops. In the case of lettuce, both products increased yield compared to plants standardly fertilised. Both biostimulants resulted in higher leaf Ca2+ content in lettuce tissue. Similar results were also found in tomato crops. Tomato yield, calcium, and nitrogen uptake were significantly enhanced.

PestNu targets agro-ecological and organic practices (AOP) in a systemic approach to reduce pesticide and fertiliser use and nutrient loss. For this reason, the effect of biostimulants on plant growth and yield has been assessed in an open-field farm in Murcia, where different formulations have been tested on lettuce, tomato and pepper crops. In addition, the PestNu project will demonstrate the use of biopesticides focused on fungal diseases under organic farming conditions, combining these products with the aforementioned biostimulant and a biofertiliser developed within PestNu.

The biostimulants under testing are produced using a biotechnological process converting microalgae biomass grown with drainage solutions from hydroponic greenhouses into a sustainable and effective product.

The use of AOPs such as biostimulants can help growers achieve higher yields by providing them with a product that acts as a booster to the fertiliser already applied to their crops. Biostimulants have a high concentration of free amino acids from the high protein content of the microalgae biomass, which are biostimulants at certain stages of plant growth (as well as phytohormones, trace elements, vitamins, etc.) and can improve their stress tolerance.

In a field test (CDTA, Murcia) with lettuce plants, the combination of biostimulant + fertiliser led to a similar yield to a conventional test and slightly increased it compared to a test done with the fertiliser itself (about 7%). These lettuce presented a lighter and more ideal average weight (450-650 g), than the conventional ones, which were heavier and far from the commercial calibres. This is a step forward considering some of the project's goals (30% more production than a conventional test).

PestNu is a comprehensive project that helps farmers improve crop quality and prevent potential issues through a variety of tools and products. These tools gather and process data in a database, which can then be accessed through PestNu's Decision Support System (DSS).

PestNu's DSS, developed by CERTH & SIDROCO, is a user-centric cloud-based Farm Management System that provides circular economy strategies and best practices for efficient decision-making in agriculture. Farmers can use DSS to get detailed information about their crops, including suggested actions and strategies to improve yield and prevent threats. Additionally, DSS produces an analytical report on demand, containing historical data gathered from cultivation. By processing data with algorithms, DSS can provide farmers with recommendations that are based on the latest information and best practices in the industry.

The benefits of DSS usage are: 
• Process large amount of data and extract useful information
• Comparison of current with previous conditions in the field
• Beneficial and comprehensible analysis of the crop
• Punctual and immediate notification when issues or threats are detected
• Reduction of required time for physical presence at the production field

The objectives of DSS are to:
•  Reduce the usage of fertilizers and pesticides
•  Avoid preventable issues and threats occurred at the production field
•  Improve the working conditions of farming
•  Increase the income and reduce the production costs of the farmers
•  Motivate people to involve with farming

PestNu wastewater treatment is a microalgae-based, containerized, modular, scalable, and self-controlled plant capable of treating manure sludge in Photobioreactors (PBR) with low operational and installation costs. The system treats wastewater to reduce the quantity of Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorous (P) contained, thanks to the microalgae that are fed with N, P and CO2.  As a result of the process, the water is partially depurated and it can be used for irrigation purposes, with concentrations of N & P compliant with EU regulations. In addition, the produced microalgae biomass can be harvested and used to produce high-value bio-products, such as plant biostimulants. The process is automated and continuously controlled by a central system (PLC) from which the sensors, the pumps and the lighting system are connected. The data recorded (pH, flow rates, temperature) through the sensors permits the system to be automatically adjusted and optimised. The main innovation is the installation of an additional tank, inserted after the biomass collection to convert the biomass into a biofertilizer. It is expected the system will produce a microalgae-based biofertilizer capacity of 10 Kg per five days. The main short-term effects of the plant are:

• Creation of a circular economy model compatible with the Agri-farm wastewater purification process.
•  Production of algal biomass purification process Cost / Benefit analysis, allowing operators and managers to analyse the potential of PestNu technology.
• The agricultural sector has raised awareness of environmental impacts, transferring the concept of waste = resource.

PestNu project follows the Farm to Fork and Green Deal strategies for a new and better balance of nature, food systems and biodiversity, by field-testing and demonstrating space-based digital technologies and agro-ecological practices to reduce the pesticides and fertilisers use.

Earth Observation (EO) tools arise as a good technological and cheap approach to map plant nutrients and pests using satellite images from the Copernicus program data/services from European Space Agency (ESA).

Farmers can have their crops monitored and inspected in space and time. They can access information on plant productivity and water stress, vegetation structure, regional canopy temperature (extremely important to delineate pests and diseases management risk zones) through the SmartAG application, the user-friendly interface of AgroInsider’s AgroRadar platform (deployed in PestNu), which automatically downloads and processes EO (ESA Sentinel 1, 2) and Meteosat 2nd Generation (Land Surface Temperature) data using artificial intelligence algorithms that provide big data and deep learning abilities on agro data.

Through the SmartAG app, the farmer can also register georeferenced evidence - samples’ coordinates, photos, videos and sound recordings from the field can be automatically uploaded to the database, thus improving traceability procedures of food production systems targeting the Sustainable Development Goals marketplaces. Moreover, PestNu foresees additional protection of the evidence registered through AgroRadar by blockchain technologies (deployed by CERTH).

In this way, PestNu is creating a transparent process from food production to the end consumer throughout the value chain.

The cultivation of microalgae for different purposes is increasing worldwide. Common to all types of cultivation is the importance of finding the best growing conditions to optimize production and quality of the harvested product.

In the PestNu project, we are developing a device that can monitor the growth of microalgae in real-time, as well as automatically evaluate the shape and size of the individual algae. The information can be used to optimize conditions and provide early warning of potential problems affecting the algae culture. Such problems might be caused by nutrient deficiencies, toxic substances, cross contamination by other microalgae, and even “infections” of the culture by grazing organisms that simply eat the microalgae.

The detection device itself takes small samples at pre-set times and passes them through a flow cell where a camera takes micro-pictures of the culture. The images are thereafter analysed to characterize the algae in terms of number, size, shape, as well as growth rate.

The camera system is designed to see the weak red fluorescence coming from the green chlorophyll inside microalgae when they are illuminated, making the algae shine in the dark depending on the load of chlorophyll. The collected images are automatically analysed by AI-based software, and information is transferred via a web-based interface to any computer or smartphone.

The EU-funded PestNu project will deliver a precision agricultural robot that can operate in both greenhouses and open fields. The agrobot co-developed by CERTH-IKH will be able to navigate autonomously, avoid obstacles, fit in the tight rows in greenhouses, move on the heating pipes and lift its robotic arm 6 meters high. Its mission is to detect pests and diseases using AI algorithms (such as black aphids, whiteflies (developed by CERTH), botrytis’ early detection (co-developed by CERTH-IKH)) and spray the affected areas with high precision.  

The agrobot addresses the rising needs of Agriculture 4.0, integrating innovations such as precision farming, IoT, big data analysis with AI and robotics in order to achieve greater production efficiency. The agrobots are autonomous machines that are able to carry out different agricultural tasks on the farm – from land preparation to harvesting – without direct human intervention. They are able to operate unsupervised in unstructured environments and can perform numerous activities such as autonomous precision seeding, mowing and pruning, picking and harvesting, monitoring and analysis and, last but not least, spraying and weeding. The PestNu agrobot focuses on the latter, while being modular and adaptable to be able to undertake other activities in the near future.

PestNu’s agrobot will boost safety in agriculture, by distancing the farmers from the hazardous chemicals, will ensure reliability and repeatability in its accurate, high-quality work and promote sustainability by reducing the amount of wasted inputs and usage of water.

Effective nutrient monitoring in aquaponics and aquaculture systems is crucial to achieve a profitable production and for complying with environmental discharge regulations. Analysis of nutrients such as nitrate, nitrite, ammonium and phosphate are usually carried out with high-cost analytical instrumentation in external labs that take a few days to report back results so no immediate decision-making is possible for fertiliser dosing and waste discharge. In recent years, a range of various online nutrient monitors have shown promise but remain expensive, deliver poor accuracy and are frequently impacted by the interferences found within the complex sample matrix of aquaculture and aquaponics. Portable and low-cost nitrate/nitrite, ammonium and phosphate analysers developed by T.E. Laboratories during the PestNu project have achieved high accuracy of results based on ion chromatography and UV-LED detection. The development of these analysers was facilitated by 3D-printing technologies for the manufacture of components specifically tailored to the user and market needs developed in collaboration with CERTH. 3D-printing has revolutionised the industry because of the nearly complete flexibility it allows when developing prototypes, while also maintaining a considerably low price point compared to benchtop analysers. The analytical systems developed during PestNu will be deployed and tested in real conditions on aquaponics and aquaculture systems from project partners in Greece and Spain.

The EU-funded PestNu project will deliver Artificial Intelligence (AI) robotic traps for real-time pest monitoring in open-fields and greenhouses. The trap uses AI-based image processing algorithms (developed by CERTH) for the identification of whiteflies and black aphids, along with self-adaptive forecasting and prediction models that are capable of predicting pest attacks (developed by AGROROBOTICA). The trap, exploiting a 5G antenna and a GPS module, can rapidly send an alarm in the case of an insect attack providing the optimised plan for crop protection to the Decision Support System under cybersecurity. Finally, the trap is optimally designed (by AGROROBOTICA) to attack easily the targeted insects using 3D printing (developed by CERTH).

Pest infestations cause an average of 35% pre-harvesting losses and insects account for roughly 50% of these losses by reducing productivity and affecting crop yields. Furthermore, pests can also pose health risks to both farmworkers and consumers when pesticides are used to control them. By accurately identifying and monitoring pests with the PestNu AI Robotic Trap, farmers can adopt more targeted and effective pest management strategies that reduce the use of harmful chemicals and enhance the safety of agricultural practices.