The giant market created by the sale of pesticides as the most effective method of agricultural production, is huge, although it is widely criticized for its toxic impact on human health and the environment. According to Eurostat, the body that supplies statistical information to institutions in the EU, in 2014 alone 400,000 tonnes were sold, of which 5.9% was sold in Poland, which makes it the fourth biggest market in Europe. The top two, Spain and France sell over 70,000 tons of pesticides, the French market is worth approximately 4 billion euros, which is of course tremendous news for chemical producers. However, from the perspective of the healthcare systems it is the complete opposite, as tax payers, have to contribute billions, because of the extensive use of pesticides.
Today farmers cannot completely eliminate them, but they could be minimalised, by being more particular when it comes to spraying their fields. What does this precisely mean? Well it is quite easy really, they should use the pesticides that work, the ones that addresses the pathogen that is threatening their crops.
So if it was that easy, why are they not, I hear you ask. Well the computer simply said “NO”, as it turned out, when the young biotechnologist; from Lublin Life Sciences University; Dr Adam Kuzdraliński got his first results for his commissioned research. The reasons were simple, the same pesticide used with satisfactory effects on one field, turned out to be absolutely useless on another even though the amounts were practically the same.
As a result, farmers, not knowing what was working and what was not, switched to a more aggressive tactic to protect their plants. They were spraying fields with everything their money could buy, believing that something of that plentitude should finally work. The results were terrifying; one in three products on the shelves of grocery stores around Lublin, was contaminated with remnants of pesticides and this in one of the greenest and least industrialized areas in Poland.
If this is not enough to scare everyone; well, then try this; in 2015 the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium published a paper concluding direct correlation between domestic pesticide use and childhood leukemia, so there is cause for concern.
But sometimes concerns are pathways to solutions or, as in the Sicilian proverb, the beginning of wealth. Nexbio a biotechnological startup, was established by Kuzdraliński in response to his own research findings and is providing some scientific services for agriculture. For the price of 200-250 euros farmers can learn what kind of pathogen they are dealing with. All they must do is to send a single plant to the Nexbio lab equipped with everything which is needed for DNA analysis, does the rest. It’s more effective, wiser and cheaper than spraying tons of pesticides.
Still, the Nexbio staff are not fully satisfied with the services they are currently providing.
“ Our offer has certain limitations” – Marcin Stachyra, Nexbio Managing Director explains.
“ First, you need to send the entire plant, second, you must wait around two weeks for the result and thirdly , sometimes it’s necessary to perform more than one test. In the case of large farms, we should analyze not one plant, but dozens of them which multiplies the costs. Considering the worldwide trend to miniaturization, we started to work on a movable lab-box, a device which would do exactly what we are doing now, but faster, cheaper and on site.”
Nexbio has already built the first prototypes of their carry-on DNA analyzer. The final version of the product will be able to provide 100% reliable test, with the results available within several minutes after the introduction to a cartridge containing a small fragment of a plant tissue within the designated slot. Instead of cutting to pieces the entire plant to perform a test, all you need to do is to pinch the leaf or a stalk with a special ‘hole puncher’, an element of cartridge itself. Miniature press will suck the tissue inside the cartridge, to a container filled with reagents. Placing it inside the lab-box will start the process. The price of the central unit is around 250 euros, with the cost of a single cartridge not higher than 5 euros per item. The results are given as simple as possible, to help their interpretation without any need for academic degrees.
Main pesticides users in the EU (in thousand tonnes)
- Spain
- France
- Italy
- Germany
- Poland
- UK
- Portugal
- Holland
- Romania
- rest EU
source: Eurostat
Nexbio has already built the first prototypes of their carry-on DNA analyzer. The final version of the product will be able to provide 100% reliable test, with the results available within several minutes after the introduction to a cartridge containing a small fragment of a plant tissue within the designated slot. Instead of cutting to pieces the entire plant to perform a test, all you need to do is to pinch the leaf or a stalk with a special ‘hole puncher’, an element of cartridge itself. Miniature press will suck the tissue inside the cartridge, to a container filled with reagents. Placing it inside the lab-box will start the process. The price of the central unit is around 250 euros, with the cost of a single cartridge not higher than 5 euros per item. The results are given as simple as possible, to help their interpretation without any need for academic degrees.