MagnI-SENSE

Motivation and problem definition

Agriculture is facing a profound change in which economic, ecological and social interests must be balanced under the influence of climate change and geopolitical crises. Regulatory requirements, such as the EU’s aims to halve the use of chemical plant protection products (PPPs) by 2030, pose major challenges for farmers, as alternative strategies to combat plant diseases are not yet fully developed. Excessive use of fungicides leads to a loss of biodiversity, while not using them can result in considerable yield losses. Thus, the medium-term goal must be to optimally adjust the amount of PPP to the actual need and only apply PPP when a pathogenic infestation is actually present or imminent. To this end, new innovative methods must be developed to detect such infestations as early as possible or to predict them using intelligent forecasting models.

Currently, plant pathogens are detected either by visual inspection or time-consuming laboratory analyses. While molecular biological methods such as PCR or ELISA offer high sensitivity, they are not sufficiently available for practical field use. Rapid tests such as lateral flow assays (LFA) can be used in the field, but are often not sensitive enough to detect infections at an early stage.

The joint project “MagnI-SENSE” aims to develop an innovative analysis and monitoring system that includes integrated on-site analysis, an individual advisory concept and an AI-supported forecast for infestation detection. This should enable farmers to significantly reduce the overall use of pesticides, maximize crop yields and thus save considerable costs in addition to the positive ecological aspect.

Project objective and approach

Under the coordination of the Fraunhofer IME, MagnI-SENSE is researching four technical innovations that together enable a more precise prediction of the occurrence of harmful organisms and thus recommendations for action for the targeted use of PPPs:

1. MagnI-SEP: A simple and statistically sound method for sampling as well as for sample preparation and enrichment, which can be implemented on-site using special magnetic nanoprobes that specifically enrich pathogens.
2. MagnI-TECT: A fast and uncomplicated on-site detection of the pathogen load by magnetic immunodetection in a special readout device, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
3. MagnI-LAMP: A magnetic method based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification that enables highly sensitive mobile detection of specific gene sequences for several pathogen groups simultaneously.
4. MagnI-APP: The analysis data collected on site is linked to other external information in a cloud-based database. An AI-supported monitoring algorithm processes this data and provides the user with forecasts on the occurrence of harmful waves and appropriate recommendations for action.

The four innovations will be tested and demonstrated in practice using important fungal pests. Due to the current lack of suitable detection methods, such pathogens mostly go unnoticed during the initial and spreading phases and can therefore cause yield-relevant damage to the infected plants. MagnI-SENSE aims to effectively counteract this problem and provide farmers with targeted recommendations to promote plant health. One key aspect is the active involvement of stakeholders in the agricultural value chain.

The Fraunhofer IME has many years of experience in the development of rapid analysis methods, particularly those based on magnetic immunodetection, in which magnetic nanoprobes are used for the enrichment and detection of plant pathogens. In addition, various LAMP-based rapid detection systems have already been researched and established at the Fraunhofer IME. In MagnI-SENSE, both methods are now to be combined into a highly sensitive and specific magnetic LAMP method.