New DEFRA-Funded O³Protect Project to Explore Sustainable Crop Protection Options for UK Growers

The Produce Quality Centre (PQC) at the University of Greenwich is part of O³Protect, a new DEFRA-funded project investigating the potential of in-situ generated ozone for crop protection in storage facilities and packhouses.

Led by Ozone Industries Ltd, the project launched in July through the Farming Innovation Programme: Feasibility Round 4. It will explore whether ozone generated at the point of use can provide a safe, effective and sustainable treatment, helping UK growers reduce crop losses, maintain product quality and improve environmental sustainability.

Responding to Pressures on UK Growers

The project comes as growers face a declining range of available crop protection products alongside increasing expectations for productivity, quality and sustainable food production. The development of alternative Plant Protection Products (PPPs) has struggled to match industry demand, leaving fewer options for managing pests and diseases.

Growers report increasing crop losses and disruption to their operations. There are also concerns about competition from imported produce treated with products that are not approved for use in the UK.

For small and medium-sized enterprises, regulatory barriers can make bringing conventional chemical treatments to market particularly challenging. These pressures underline the need to investigate alternative approaches to crop protection.

Assessing Ozone’s Effectiveness and Impact on Quality

O3Protect will investigate in-situ generated ozone as a practical, low-residue treatment for hygiene and crop protection. The research will adapt methodologies previously developed under the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) to support potential future applications within the Plant Protection Products framework.

Cardiff Metropolitan University will undertake microbiological testing to assess ozone’s effectiveness against plant pathogens. This work will use a specialist ozone chamber designed and built by Ozone Industries.

Alongside this, PQC will examine how ozone treatments affect the quality of pome fruits, including apples and pears; stone fruits, including cherries and plums; and flower bulbs. These assessments will use ozone-adapted storage pods supplied by Ozone Industries.

Evaluating Performance in Commercial Conditions

The consortium includes AM Fresh Ltd, ACH Farming, GSR Fruits and Taylors Bulbs, bringing commercial experience to the research alongside the academic and technology partners.

PQC will work with these businesses to carry out field trials under realistic storage conditions, evaluating how ozone treatments perform in commercial settings. A dedicated ozone test system will also be designed for field evaluation.

The consortium will complement the technical trials with a market assessment exploring how ozone technology could be implemented across the wider farming sector.

Understanding the Economic and Environmental Benefits

A detailed cost-benefit analysis will assess the potential contribution of ozone technology to productivity, resilience and sustainability. It will examine:

• Reductions in product losses.
• Improvements in product quality.
• Environmental benefits.

The findings will help establish the economic viability of ozone-based crop protection systems and provide evidence to inform potential adoption across agriculture.

Building Evidence for Future Approval

O3Protect’s ultimate objective is to generate scientific and economic evidence to support an application for ozone to be recognised as a Plant Protection Product.

If successful, the work could help establish an additional sustainable crop protection option for UK growers, supporting the resilience and competitiveness of the sector. By combining research expertise, commercial knowledge and technology development, the consortium aims to address practical challenges facing UK food production.

Read the original announcement on the Produce Quality Centre website.

Find out more about the Produce Quality Centre and the Natural Resources Institute.

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