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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - O3MET (Vegetable ozone therapy for the defense of greenhouse crops)

Teaser

Summary

Greenhouses produce 30% of the vegetables and fruits consumed in Europe, but every year they are threatened by major crop losses due to pests and diseases accounting for â‚¬25-45 billion year worldwide, â‚¬1 billion in Europe alone. In this context, the Italian SME ozone expert MET s.r.l. has developed O3MET: an innovative technology for spraying aqueous ozone (O3) to efficiently protect greenhouse crops from pests and diseases, that would allow European greenhouse farmers saving â‚¬6000-8000/hectare/year due to reductions in chemicals and labour.
The goal of MET is to bring the benefits of O3MET to the European/Mediterranean greenhouse sector (212,000 hectares), by reaching a market penetration of 5% (10,000 ha) in 5 years, ideally providing â‚¬12 million/year savings in chemicals and labour for the greenhouse sector.
For more than 50 years, farmers have been inefficiently combating plant diseases with synthetic organic chemicals (phytosanitary products) with a number of problems as phytosanitaries: i) are not effective (many crop pathogens develop genetic resistance); ii) pose an environmental problem: they leave toxic rests polluting ecosystems (water and soils); iii) generate health and safety risks for workers and food consumers (increased prevalence of cancer, infertility issues and neurodegenerative diseases). Biopesticides, recently emerged as an alternative to phytosanitaries, are pest control tools comprising living organisms and compounds from natural sources whose use has boomed recently boosted by Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles and increased consumer demands for healthier and environmentally sustainable food. Biopesticides, yet environmentally friendly, do not offer a universal solution for farmers, as: (i) their pest spectrum is narrow; (ii) in some cases they are of slow speed action (days); and (iii) their efficacy is often widely variable (therefore unpredictable).
Bearing in mind farmers needs not solved by phytosanitaries or biopesticides, MET s.r.l. conceived O3MET, an innovative technology for spraying aqueous ozone (O3) for disease control and sanitation of greenhouse crops, taking advantage of the powerful oxidation-based (hence non-selective) anti-pathogen action of ozone. O3MET unique values are summarized in that it is: highly effective (85-99% pathogen reduction against fungi, bacteria and viruses); fast-acting (1-2 min treatment); preventive rather than just corrective; cost-effective (allows â‚¬6000-8000 saved per hectare per year); environmentally friendly (leaves no residues in plants); safe for workers and consumers (ozone disintegrates into innocuous oxygen in 20-30 minutes); and beneficial for the entire food production chain as extending shelf-life of vegetables and fruits.

Work performed

During the last four months (August-November 2015), MET technical and commercial staff have worked hard to perform a comprehensive feasibility study of O3MET innovation. The work carried out supports the technical, commercial and economic feasibility of O3MET and defines the road map to follow for a successful exploitation of O3MET.
The technical feasibility of O3MET has been confirmed by the 85-99% pathogen reduction obtained in the most relevant greenhouse crops during pilot experiences in greenhouse farms of 7 producing companies in Italy (2014-2015). Namely, SME instrument phase 1 has allowed MET to: i) Gather field results obtained with satisfied end users to be showcased as flagship experiences during O3MET promotion and commercialization; ii) Identify the most effective ozone treatment conditions for 7 greenhouse crops, with optimal treatment times ranging 1-2 min and O3 concentration ranging 0.9-2 ppm and iii) Elaborate a plan for industrial production of O3MET anticipating the tasks foreseen for phase 2 to adapt current supply chain and production lines of MET.
Beyond technical aspects, the feasibility study has enabled MET to define the best marketing and commercialization strategy for O3MET. Key partners have been sought, with up to 26 entities identified including technical and commercial stakeholders and interested end users, 9 of which have initiated agreements with MET to participate as partners for phase 2 project (e.g., Gamberini), subcontractors (e.g., agronomist consultants; dealers of agricultural machinery) or up to 5 locations for field experiences in actual farms in Italy, Mediterranean and Netherlands. During phase 1 we have also clarified the Intellectual Property Rights strategy and exploitation plan, as well as the key messages to deliver during dissemination of O3MET and the instruments for that (demo and renting experiences, training and workshops for dealers, installers and end users etc).
And last but not least, we have defined the economic feasibility of O3MET project, estimating a payback period of 2.5 years post-commercialization (by 2021) for the investments foreseen for phase 2 project (2016-2018).
After this feasibility study we conclude to continue with O3MET project as it has proven a competitive, cost-effective and sustainable technology that will have a very satisfactory market uptake. This conclusion is further supported by the interest shown by end users and key stakeholders in O3MET demonstrated in their support letters attached to phase 1 O3MET proposal and in the warm welcome that the technology had in the Fruit and Vegetal Professional Show McFrut 2015 (Cesena, Italy) where O3MET received the McFrut Innovation Award in the category â€œfacilities and equipment for protected cropsâ€.

Final results

After studying the economic viability of O3MET, and considering the commercial strategy described in our business plan, we foresee sales of 940 units to farmers and a 5% market uptake for O3MET in the five years post-market launch (2019-2023), with an accumulated turnover of â‚¬54 million and â‚¬10.1 million net profit for the SME MET. Beyond boosting MET business growth, O3MET intends to become a universal solution feasible for virtually any pathogen/disease in European greenhouses that (if consolidated as a routine technology) might reach European market sizes in the order of magnitude of biopesticides (â‚¬1.5 billion) but without the technical drawbacks of those. Once fully developed technically and commercially during a phase 2 project, O3MET will consolidate in its home market (Italy), and will progressively expand to the main producers in the Mediterranean (Spain, Morocco, Turkey, Israel, Tunisia, France) and EU (Netherlands) to be able to internationalize to non-EU markets later on (America â€“USA, Mexico, Chile-, South Africa, and Asia-Oceania â€“India, China, Australia -).
If, under optimistic market conditions, O3MET could be installed in just 25% of the European greenhouse tomato production (25,000 ha), European agriculture would benefit in â‚¬70 million, including savings in pesticides (â‚¬38 million) and savings in work time of greenhouse operators (â‚¬31 million). Ultimately, the innovative OMET technology will drastically increase the efficiency in food production and storage throughout all the value chain. It will prevent and minimize diseases in greenhouse crop production and will boost a remarkable extension in the shelf life of vegetables, providing an eco-friendly (residue-free) Integrated Pest Management solution fully compliant with European Union trends promoting a reduced use of chemical phytosanitary products while ensuring safety for agricultural workers and food consumers.