NextGen Biopesticides named agri-inventor of the year

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  NextGen Biopesticides, a company which uses selective breeding approaches to develop effective and safe biopesticides for the control of crop pest insects, has won the Agri-Food Invention of the Year Award at the recent Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP), INVENT 2015 Awards.

  Coming top in the Agri-Food category, which was sponsored by Fujitsu, the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, NextGen Biopesticides not only secured a share of the £33,000 prize fund, but will also now travel to California on Northern Ireland’s Tech Mission to pitch to prospective investors and partners.

  Speaking about the competition and the importance of innovators like NextGen Biopesticides, Greg McDaid, Client Managing Director Fujitsu, said:

  “We are delighted that NextGen Biopesticides have won the INVENT Agri-Food Award for their industry leading developments in pest control. They have demonstrated how problem solving, research and clever application can result in innovations that can be used to tackle a global problem – in this case ineffective biopesticides. The Agri-Food sector in NI is growing, with more inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs and students addressing some of the megatrends facing the world including global population growth and climate ready crops.  At Fujitsu, we are continuingly challenging ourselves to see how best ICT can be utilised and we have delivered a number of exciting projects in the Agri-Food sector including “Akisai” an agriculture and food cloud service which is a one stop ICT solution for agri-businesses. We look forward to seeing other innovations such as that showcased by NextGen Biopesticides emerge from Northern Ireland in the future.”

  Dr Jonathan Dalzell from Queen’s University who heads up NextGen Biopesticides said;

  "I’m absolutely delighted to win the Agri-Food category of Invent 2015 with our NextGen BioPesticides venture.  This represents a strong foundation from which we can commercialise our enhanced nematode bioinsecticides.  In particular, the opportunity to join the NI Tech Mission to San Diego will help us create important international links.  As a lecturer within the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, my research focus is to address the biggest challenges we face locally, as well as globally.  This is another example of research from Queen’s University Belfast meeting the challenge of food security head on.  Fujitsu are developing a big reputation for innovation within the global Agri-Food sector, and represent a valued supporter of our work."

  NextGen Biopesticides use selective breeding approaches to develop more effective organic biopesticides. They are working with insect parasitic nematodes, that is, microscopic worms that find and kill pest insect larvae in the soil.

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