Proving that a bug's life stretches past Pixar and evil grasshoppers voiced by Kevin Spacey, the fresh produce industry's R&D contingent is pioneering new techniques to utilise natural predators and keep pesky pests under control.

With the recent Catalyst for Change report by the NFU claiming that British-grown tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and mushrooms were all in danger of disappearing from supermarket shelves in the coming years, many scientists have claimed it's only a matter of time before the fresh produce industry turns to GM crops, but what about GM insects?

Oxford-based firm Oxitec says its pioneering new RIDL technology, described as 'birth control' for pests, could help to greatly improve the yields of commercial fruit and vegetable crops by reducing the population of more harmful, female creepy crawlies.

'We produce a genetically engineered sterile strain of a male pest, which carries a gene that causes death in the next generation, and get it to mate with the females ,' explains Hadyn Parry, CEO of Oxitec.

Having successfully trialled the technology on both the male Mediterranean fruit fly, which attacks citrus and avocados, and the Tuta absoluta moth, dubbed the 'tomato leaf miner' as it puts its larvae inside a plant's leaves, Parry believes Oxitec can now offer British growers a sanctuary from harmful pests, but stresses that they must first prove the approach will work at a more human level.

He explains: 'Next year we will release genetically modified male mosquitoes into a small town in Brazil of 50,000 people where malaria and diseases spread from female mosquitoes are rife. So far in our trials in Brazil we've reduced the female mosquito community by 80 per cent in just four months and I believe we can now improve the health of a whole town of people; hopefully that will wake up the policy makers and allow us to further the agricultural side of things into Europe.'

But with a widespread cynicism to GM still prominent among Europe's food industry and policy makers, Oxitec's ambitious plans could very well remain muted. 'What Oxitec is doing is interesting, but for GM insects to be out in the UK fields would require a momentous change in legislation,' counters Dr Michelle Fountain, an entomologist at East Malling Research.

Fountain has been heading up a research project looking into exploiting the sexual pheromones of pests, which works by attracting insects into one area where they can then be monitored or placed into a trap that can be controlled with pesticides. She explains: 'The females release compounds to attract the male species at the time of mating, which we can then exploit and replicate to control harmful pests.

'Part of this technique can even eradicate the need for pesticides and insect deaths through the method of mating disruption, where we flood a specific part of the environment with the sex pheromone to lure the males away so they cannot locate the females.'

With 500,000 tonnes of tomatoes currently consumed every year, while domestic output remains nearer 75,000t, it is clear the UK market is now more reliant on imports than ever before, and the proof is in the fields, with foreign tomato pests such as the red palm weevil and oak processionary moth now finding a home on British shores for the first time.

Fountain says it is key that R&D is given proper financial backing by the government, with more foreign pests set to enter our agricultural environment.

She adds: 'East Malling is the only research institute for fruit horticulture, which is a sign of the times as there has been a lot of government cuts over the last 20 years; the government must invest in R&D as we need enough scientists and facilities to address disease spread by foreign bugs.'

Fountain confirms that East Malling Research has been working on another project since 2006 that uses bumble bees and honey bees to vector a biocontrol agent into the strawberry plant to prevent the fungus botrytis, as well as a project looking at using fungus and bacteria to infect pest populations, and is keen to stress beneficial insects are crucial in order to fight flowering disease.

But debate over the Oxitec technology lingers. On learning of Oxitec's discussions with DEFRA back in November about the legislative process of introducing a genetic variant of the brassica-damaging diamondback moth into fields to combat its growing population, Dr Helen Wallace, the director of GeneWatch UK, responded in a damning Daily Mail story: 'The public will be shocked to learn that GM insects can be released into the environment without any proper oversight.'

Meanwhile, Tina Goethe from European environmental charity SwissAid, urged policy makers to avoid the technology at all costs. 'The development of GM insects for agriculture implies unforeseeable risks for human health and environment. In order to meet the challenges of small-scale agriculture in poor countries, we do not need expensive and high-risk technologies, but agro-ecological solutions.'

But are they missing the point? Simon Jones, sales and marketing manager of BCP Certis, which provides beneficial mites and parasitoids to control pests – such as thrips, vine weevils and spider mites – in protected crops, says that as a result of its service, many UK growers of tomatoes and peppers are now able to grow insecticide free, and he believes that lobbyists don't realise Oxitec is actually offering a chemical-free solution with beneficial bugs.

'We are collaborating with Oxitec in its fight against the tomato plant pest Tuta absoluta. The technology allows chemical-free species-specific control of pests which cause economic damage to crops, but it is unfortunately still a way off in Europe and subject to regulatory approvals.'

Despite being at the forefront of the debate, Parry admits Oxitec is currently losing its battle to convince DEFRA of the benefits of its technology, but remains hopeful things will one day change.

He concludes: 'There are currently around 800 biotech companies in pharmaceuticals, and only two or three in agriculture. This isn't nearly enough. More and more harmful foreign insects will come into UK shores as we have to rely more on imports and our way of making the males sterile is a proven success of reducing numbers, not to mention a non-chemical alternative to adding pesticides to food.

'It would be a shame if UK growers and producers were robbed of this technology due to scaremongering lobbyists and politicians fearful of losing votes by being associated with GM.'—

DIAMONDBACKS AREN'T FOREVER

The diamondback moth, sometimes dubbed the cabbage moth, was at the centre of controversy when Oxitec held talks with DEFRA and Britian's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about indoor trials of sterile GM variants of the species to keep the pest's population down.

'We went to DEFRA to get them to explain to us the regulatory process if we were to do indoor trials,' says Oxitec CEO Hadyn Parry.

The moth, which has a miniscule life cycle of just 14 days, has long been an enemy to brassica growers as it only feeds on plants, like cabbages, that produce glucosinolates.

'Going forward we either control the diamondback moth by spraying loads of chemicals on the crop or putting GM into the crop, which both apply intervention directly to the food itself, or we can use our technology which avoids using chemicals,' said Parry. —

WHAT'S THE BUZZ?

The NFU has gone to the Environmental Audit Committee to seek clarification after fears that the use of neonicotinoid insecticides on bees and other pollinating insects is having a damaging effect.

Neonicotinoids are commonly used by growers in the UK on a range of agricultural and horticultural crops, and a number of studies show that feeding bees with neonicotinoid insecticides has harmful effects on their behaviour and life cycle.

NFU lead on bee health, Chris Hartfield, said: 'We are looking for the continuation of an evidence-based policy approach on issues around neonicotinoid insecticides and their impacts on bees and other pollinators.'

DEFRA has confirmed that it is actively seeking out the advice of independent experts on the issue. 'The health of our bees is a real concern and we have always been open minded about the results of any new science that links bee decline with the use of certain pesticides,' said environment secretary Owen Paterson.