Project description
A natural way to protect against corn rootworms
Western corn rootworm (WCR) is an invasive pest that poses a threat to European maize production. Unfortunately, there is no effective protection following the ban of the toxic neonicotinoids. This is why Austria’s LITHOS has developed and patented CornProtect – a biological and highly effective solution against the WCR. It is also natural, non-toxic, and harmless for all other organisms and the environment. The EU-funded CORNPROTECT project will promote the product’s commercial deployment by optimising the current formulation and registering it as an EU plant protection product. The next step will be to increase production and validate the product in the EU market.
Objective
The Western Corn Rootworm (WCR) is a pest that has turned into a major threat to Europe’s corn production. WCR has
spread to most of South East and Central Europe, affecting now 7 million hectares (37% of the European corn cultivation).
With an average yield/hectare of €1,800 and damage potential between 20 and 80%, possible yield losses amount to
€2,52-10,08 billion.
After the ban of the highly toxic neonicotinoids within the EU, there is currently no effective protection against the WCR. Due
to a lack of other solutions, today some unspecific chemical pesticides are marketed and used against the WCR with very
limited effectiveness. To make it worse, these products are toxic and harmful for the environment and for beneficial insects
(like bees).
LITHOS has developed and patented CORNPROTECT, a biological and highly effective solution for protecting corn against
WCR. It works target specific due to the release of the specific pheromone of the WCR. As a natural solution it is absolutely
non-toxic and harmless for all other organisms and the environment. The specific combination of the pheromone and a
highly porous mineral (zeolite) as a carrier allows a slow release of the pheromone and mating disruption over the active
period of WCR adults. It’s also easy to use and affordable (costs to farmers are € 50/hectar, similar to conventional
solutions). CORNPROTECT can be used in conventional and organic farming.
The main objective for LITHOS in this phase 2 project is to bridge the remaining gap to commercial deployment by
optimizing the current formulation, registering CORNPROTECT as EU plant protection product, scaling up existing
production, and validating the product in the EU market.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy plant protection
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture sustainable agriculture
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry inorganic compounds
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
4482 Ennsdorf
Austria
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.