Source: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS submitted to NRP
INTEGRATION OF FRONTIER TECHNOLOGIES TO PROMOTE ADOPTION OF ORGANIC TOMATO PRODUCTION
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1031254
Grant No.
2023-51106-40946
Cumulative Award Amt.
$999,997.00
Proposal No.
2023-04746
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2023
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2026
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[112.E]- Organic Transitions
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
410 MRAK HALL
DAVIS,CA 95616-8671
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
We are unaware of any research collaborations, in which the three frontier technologies in this project (optical sensing, cold plasma, and advanced lighting) are being integrated synergistically. Each frontier technology is associated with a strong track record of being relevant to improved organic crop production, and preliminary data included in this proposal demonstrate our experience with each of them. Additionally, the transferability of project results into commercial crop production operations is considered very high as each frontier technology is commercialized by different companies. As examples, the following are some of the commercial companies, which offer cold plasma solutions to the agricultural sector: Plasma waters (https://plasmawaters.com/) and Vital fluid (https://vitalfluid.com/). On their website, Vital fluid describes several on-going projects with organic growers, in which PAW is used as a fertilizer, particularly as a source of nitrogen for plants and in different pest management applications (mainly of fungal pathogens). Vital fluid and another commercial producer of cold plasma systems (www.plasmatreat.com) have both provided strong letters of support to this proposal. Greenhouse lighting technologies are widely available and electric installations are often in place as supplemental lighting is a frequent practice in organic tomato production. As an example, Co-PD Mattson is co-lead of the Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) consortium (https://glase.org/), in which research and testing of lighting systems is a major priority and is being conducted in close collaboration with manufacturers of lighting systems. We will develop and deliver technology-based solutions, in which three frontier technologies will be integrated and applied in several ways to organic tomato production.
Animal Health Component
70%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
5%
Applied
70%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2051460107025%
2121460116010%
2161460113025%
4041460202040%
Knowledge Area
212 - Pathogens and Nematodes Affecting Plants; 205 - Plant Management Systems; 216 - Integrated Pest Management Systems; 404 - Instrumentation and Control Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
1460 - Tomato;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 1130 - Entomology and acarology; 1070 - Ecology; 1160 - Pathology;
Goals / Objectives
This new application of a 3-year integrated project brings together a multi-institution and multi-state community of needed participants to address some of the most important challenges faced by organic specialty crop transplant producers. This project aims to test and promote three frontier technologies to: 1) significantly increase adoption of organic tomato production, and 2) increase productivity of existing organic tomato production systems. The overarching project hypothesis is that integration of three frontier technologies (optical sensing, atmospheric cold plasma, and advanced lighting) can markedly increase seed germination, seedling growth and vigor, nutritional quality, and pest management in organic tomato production. We will develop and deliver technology-based solutions, in which three frontier technologies will be integrated and applied in several ways to organic tomato production.
Project Methods
Objective 1. Project management.Activity 1.1: Project management of activities (years 1-3).Activity 1.2: Project meetings with advisory board (years 1-3). PD Nansen will organize two annual virtual (zoom) project meetings with the advisory board, in PDs and other project team members will update on project status and receive feedback on planned activities.Activity 1.3: Project data management (years 1-3). PD Nansen and postdocs in his lab will be responsible for successful execution of a data management plan attached.Activity 1.4: Project management - reporting and budget (years 1-3). PD Nansen will be responsible for annual reporting to NIFA.Activity 1.5: Project evaluation (years 1 and 3). Mr. Zach Bagley from the California Tomato Research Institute is on the project advisory board and has also agreed to serve as External evaluator.Objective 2. Optimization of plasma activated water (PAW). Co-PD Annor has the overall coordination responsibility and will be assisted by Dr. Trimukhe.Activity 2.1: Experimental production of PAW (Year 1-2). Co-PD Annor and Dr. Trimukhe conduct parallel and complementary experiments and examine PAW characteristics in response to a wide range of experimental conditions.Activity 2.2: Shelf life of PAW (Year 1-2). Water produced by Co-PD Annor and Dr. Trimukhe will be stored in glass containers for about two months and monitored for any changes in their composition.Activity 2.3: Analyses of PAW samples (Year 1-2). Co-PD Annor and Dr. Trimukhe will analyze PAW and non-PAW water samples.Objective 3. Optical sensing as quality control of seeds and seedlings. PD Nansen and Dr Savi will be responsible for successful execution of all activities under this objective. Rationale: inclusion of this frontier technology is supported by a large body of knowledge and preliminary data in this proposal.Activity 3.1: Optical sensing of tomato seeds and seedlings (year 1-3). Existing optical sensing hardware and software in the Nansen lab represent significant in-kind contributions to this project.Activity 3.2: Optical sensing-based quality control of PAW treatments (years 1-3). A After radiometric filtering, we will develop and optimize classification algorithms. Performance (accuracy and robustness) of different machine learning algorithms will be compared.Objective 4. Use of PAW to optimize seed germination and seedling growth. Inclusion of this frontier technology is supported by a large body of knowledge and preliminary data in this proposal.Activity 4.1: Screening of tomato seed germination (years 1-2). Dr. Savi (UC Davis) and co-PD Mattson and Cornell graduate student will perform screening of tomato seed germination in response to PAW treatments.Activity 4.2: Screening of tomato seedling vigor (years 1-2). Based on results from project activity 4.1, select PAW treatments will be advanced for screening of seedling vigor by Dr. Savi at UC Davis and at Cornell by co-PD Mattson and graduate student.Activity 4.3: Nitrogen benefits of PAW (years 2-3). Under organically certified greenhouse conditions, co-PD Mattson and a graduate student will grow tomato seedlings as described under activity 4.2, except that organically approved N-fertilization.Objective 5. Use of advanced lighting in pest management. Inclusion of this frontier technology is supported by a large body of knowledge and preliminary data in this proposal.Activity 5.1: Light screening to improve pest management (years 1-3). Dr. Savi and PD Nansen will be responsible for performing behavioral studies of phototaxis (response to light) by two-spotted spider mites and western flower thrips.Activity 5.2: Light-based manipulation of spider mites (years 2-3). Dr. Savi and PD Nansen will be responsible for deploying light spectra identified under activity 6.1. to growing tomato transplants under greenhouse conditions.Activity 5.3: Light-based manipulation of western flower thrips (years 2-3). As shown in preliminary data section, Dr. Savi and PD Nansen will be responsible for testing and optimization of light spectra to suppress emergence of western flower thrips from individual tomato leaves.Objective 6. Tomato yields and postharvest quality. This objective is included to characterize and quantify downstream benefits of PAW treatments of organic tomato transplants to harvest.Activity 6.1: Fresh market yield data (years 2-3). Fresh market tomato transplants will be grown by co-PD Mattson and a graduate student.Activity 6.2: Processing tomato yield data (years 2-3). PD Nansen and co-PD Turini will oversee experimental production of processing tomato transplants to be transplanted into organically certified field plots and UC Davis and in demonstration plots at Fresno County Ag Center. Planting is expected to occur in mid-Apr to mid-May in project years 2 and 3.Activity 6.3: Compositional analyses (years 2-3). Co-PD Annor will analyze the quality of tomato fruits harvested from plants that had their seeds treated with PAW to investigate the effects of increased germination rates and vigor on the characteristics of the tomato fruits.Activity 6.4: Arthropod pests in experimental field plots (years 2-3). In microplots described under activity 6.2, Dr Savi and PD Nansen will perform sweep net sampling and visual inspections of tomato plants to obtain quantitative data on arthropod pest population dynamics.Objective 7. Outreach and extension This objective contributes to the successful completion and dissemination of all project outcomes (see logic model).Activity 7.1: Project website (years 1-3). PD Nansen and the two project postdocs will set-up and maintain a website to serve as a clearinghouse for project outreach materials as part of his laboratory website at: http://chrnansen.wix.com/nansen2.Activity 7.2: Demonstrations (years 2-3). As part of in-person demonstrations and presentations, we will conduct presentations, demonstrations, and impact surveys to attendees in three participating states.Activity 7.3: Project videos, presentations, and webinars (years 2-3): Nansen and Annor will produce a series of 5-10 min videos (year 2-3), and links to these will be posted on dedicated project website.Activity 7.4: Trade journal publications (year 2-3).Activity 7.5: Publications and presentations to academic audiences (years 2-3).Activity 7.6: Stakeholder surveys (years 1 & 3).Objective 8. Academic capacity building and education. Using the educational video software, Camtasia (www.camtasia.com), video recordings of: lab experiments, field studies, interactions with growers, and photos and figures of project results will be edited and converted into educational segments to be used in lectures and stakeholder presentations by all PDs.Activity 8.1: Education at UC Davis (year 3). In the Fall of 2023, PD Nansen will start teaching a 3-credit SAS course, entitled "Urban food and society". He also teaches a 5-credit course, entitled ENT110 Arthropod pest management, in Fall quarters.Activity 8.2: Education at University of Minnesota (year 3). Educational segments from this project will be integrated into FSCN 4113, FSCN 4112, and FSCN 4131.Activity 8.3: Education at Cornell (year 3). Educational segments from this project will be integrated into an annual course by co-PD Mattson, entitled "Hydroponic Food Production (4 credits).

Progress 09/01/24 to 08/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:This project targets what may be considered the most "upstream" agronomic challenge - how to ensure establishment of a healthy seedlings and transplants. The overarching project hypothesis is that integration of three frontier technologies (optical sensing, atmospheric cold plasma, and advanced lighting) can markedly increase seed germination, seedling growth and vigor, nutritional quality, and pest management in organic tomato production. We will develop and deliver technology-based solutions, in which three frontier technologies will be integrated and applied in several ways to organic tomato production. We are unaware of any research collaborations, in which the three frontier technologies in this project (optical sensing, cold plasma, and advanced lighting) are being integrated synergistically. Each frontier technology is associated with a strong track record of being relevant to improved organic crop production, and preliminary data included in this proposal demonstrate our experience with each of them. Additionally, the transferability of project results into commercial crop production operations is considered very high as each frontier technology is commercialized by different companies. Although the proposed integration of three frontier technologies is tailored to organic producers of tomatoes, project outcomes are of high relevance to a diverse range of organic and conventional specialty crops, which are started as transplants. This project aligns with the USDA Strategic Plan Fiscal Year 2022-2026 and specifically addresses the following Strategic Goals: Objective 2.1: Protect Plant and Animal Health by Minimizing Major Diseases, Pests, and Wildlife Conflicts and Objective 2.3: Foster Agricultural Innovation. Of the four Priority Areas for FY 2023, this project addresses two. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Mentorship, training, and professional developments are key aspects to this project. We have multiple graduate students actively involved in this project: 1) Yugeng Zou is mentored by Christian Nansen at UC Davis and is receiving his M.Sc. through a project on stability of plasma-activated water. 2) Patrice Savi is a postdoctoral fellow in the Nansen lab and is heavily involved in research and publication of project results (see list of publications). 3) At UC Davis and under mentoring by Christian Nansen, a total of five undergraduate students have so far been involved in execution of research studies under this project. 4) At Cornell and under the mentorship by Neil Mattson, Abby Pace is receiving her M.Sc. through a project on plasma-activated water and tomato production in greenhouse settings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?This project report covers the time period from Oct 1st 2024 to Sept 30Th 2025. This project focuses on producers of organic processing tomato transplants. However, such producers typically also producing other transplants (vegetables and ornamentals). Secondly, many producers of organic processing tomato transplants also produce conventional transplants. So, in many ways - outcomes from this project will benefit specialty crop production beyond organic tomatoes. The publicly available Youtube videos of meetings therefore benefit a wide public audience. we have delivered several publicly available presentations, including: A contribution to a series hosted by the American Floral Endowment (AFE) to learn about how we can generate fertilizer and pest resistance in crops from air..! Plasma activated water provides solutions to some of our most critical crop sustainability needs. This presentation was delivered in July, 2025 and was afterwards edited and uploaded to Youtube: https://youtu.be/EC34O1ASm3Q. To date, it has been watched by 131 viewers. In July 2025, we organized industry and research experts to provide insight to a wide variety of aspects related to use of plasma-activated water (PAW) in sustainable crop production. Learn more about research addressing the needs of the future. The summit was afterwards edited and uploaded to Youtube: https://youtu.be/tqtR8AuYwyY. To date, it has been watched by 239 viewers. Although outside the time period covered in this progress report, we find it relevant to mention another publicly available outreach effort. In July 2024, we organized industry collaborators and academic colleagues and listen to open and detailed discussion of key aspects of plasma activated water as a technology to promote sustainable crop production. The recorded meeting was afterwards edited and uploaded to Youtube: https://youtu.be/zJjyTEdNqxU. To date, it has been watched by 437 viewers. Thus, we have reached about 800 stakeholders with interest in sustainable crop production and use of plasma technologies. Applied research results, meeting recordings, newsletters and other resources on use of atmospheric cold plasma are shared on a publicly available website (https://chrnansen.wixsite.com/nansen2/cold-plasma-1). This website is updated on a regular basis and as new results and recommendations become available. Below, a list of presentations given to different audiences, in which the three frontier technologies were highlighted: Nansen C. 2025. Plasma-activated water (PAW) for floriculture production. Invited virtual seminar at the 2025 Grow Pro Series (https://endowment.org/growpro/). American Floral Endowment. July 22nd, 2025. Nansen C. 2025. Virtual summit on cold plasma applications in agriculture. July 8th, 2025. Youtube recording: https://youtu.be/tqtR8AuYwyY Nansen C. 2025. Alternative approaches to beet leafhopper, beet curly top virus management. Vegetable Crop Research, Winter Update, UC West Side Research and Extension Center, Five Points. Jan 21st, 2025 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?* We expect to develop high-quality extension and outreach videos. * We expect to embark on direct seed treatment with cold plasma - that is, in addition to treating water with plasma, we will conduct studies of how cold plasma can be used to positive affect performance of tomato seeds.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Below, we briefly provide updates on each of the project objectives. Objective 1. Project management. We: continue to hold virtual project team meetings, have engage with key stakeholders, are submitting budgets and progress reports, and are engaging and reaching out to the public and industry partners through on-line and publicly available meetings and summits. Objective 2. Optimization of plasma activated water (PAW). Some of the biggest applied research contributions have been made on this objective, as we are providing novel and critically important knowledge about how addition of bases can be used to control both pH and overall stability of plasma activated water over time. Objective 3. Optical sensing as quality control of seeds and seedlings. We have strong and extensive data, and a research publication will be produced and submitted in the near future. Objective 4. Use of PAW to optimize seed germination and seedling growth. We have extensive data, including detailed data from trays of transplants grown under different fertilizer and PAW regimes. Objective 5. Use of advanced lighting in pest management. As listed under publications, we have successfully completed several studies on use of lighting in pest management. Objective 6. Tomato yields and postharvest quality. We have extensive data, including from field studies, in which we have demonstrated the benefits of treating tomato transplants with plasma-activated water. Objective 7. Outreach and extension. As listed above, we maintain a project website, produce publicly available recordings of meetings/summits, which have been viewed by over 800 people, and we regularly contribute to grower meetings. PAW is being integrated into both lectures and lab sessions of ENT 110 Arthropod Pest Management - a 5 credit upper division course taught by Christian Nansen at UC Davis.

Publications

  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Eylands NJ, Yue C, Wang Y, Kaczmar NS, Andrade P, Savi P, Nansen C, Annor GA, Carciofi BAM, Mattson NS. 2025. Greenhouse and nursery producers have optimistic outlook toward adoption of plasma-activated water in young plant production. HortTechnology. DOI: 10.21273/HORTTECH05689-25
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Nansen C, Y Zou, MD Hernandez, KR McCambridge, H Khodaverdi, PJ Savi, A Mantri. 2025. Optimized use of UV-B light to suppress Western flower thrips in controlled environment tomato crops. Pest Management Science. DOI 10.1002/ps.70130
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Savi PJ, Robertson S, Nansen C. 2025. Immature spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) are highly susceptible to irrigated-host plants with plasma-activated water. Scientific Reports 15: 22118. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05629-2.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Savi PJ, S Hall, M Hernandez, A Mantri, D Kliebenstein, C Nansen. 2025. Effects of timed LED regimes on tomato plant traits, performance of two-spotted spider mites, and predatory mites (Phytoseiulus persimilis). Pest Management Science. DOI 10.1002/ps.8630
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Nansen C, PJ. Savi, T Ward, H Khodaverdi, JH Lieth, A Mantri. 2024. Manipulation of phototactic responses by two-spotted spider mites to improve performance of miticides. Crops. Crops, 4, 568-583. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/crops4040040.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Nansen C, PJ. Savi, A Mantri. 2024. Methods to optimize optical sensing of biotic plant stress - combined effects of hyperspectral imaging at night and spatial binning. Plant Methods. DOI: 10.1186/s13007-024-01292-2.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Savi PJ, Mantri A, Khodaverdi H, Zou Y, Moraes GJ, Nansen C. 2024. Indirect effects of plasma-activated water irrigation on Tetranychus urticae populations (Acari: Tetranychidae). Journal of Pest Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-024-01791-0
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Andrade PE, PJ Savi, FS Almeida, BA Carciofi, A Pace, Y Zou, N Eylands, G Annor, N Mattson, Nansen C. 2025. Plasma-activated water as a sustainable nitrogen source: Supporting the UN SDGs in controlled environment agriculture. Crops. 5, 35. https://doi.org/10.3390/crops5030035


Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:This project targets what may be considered the most "upstream" agronomic challenge - how to ensure establishment of a healthy seedlings and transplants. The overarching project hypothesis is that integration of three frontier technologies (optical sensing, atmospheric cold plasma, and advanced lighting) can markedly increase seed germination, seedling growth and vigor, nutritional quality, and pest management in organic tomato production. We will develop and deliver technology-based solutions, in which three frontier technologies will be integrated and applied in several ways to organic tomato production. We are unaware of any research collaborations, in which the three frontier technologies in this project (optical sensing, cold plasma, and advanced lighting) are being integrated synergistically. Each frontier technology is associated with a strong track record of being relevant to improved organic crop production, and preliminary data included in this proposal demonstrate our experience with each of them. Additionally, the transferability of project results into commercial crop production operations is considered very high as each frontier technology is commercialized by different companies. Although the proposed integration of three frontier technologies is tailored to organic producers of tomatoes, project outcomes are of high relevance to a diverse range of organic and conventional specialty crops, which are started as transplants. This project aligns with the USDA Strategic Plan Fiscal Year 2022-2026 and specifically addresses the following Strategic Goals: Objective 2.1: Protect Plant and Animal Health by Minimizing Major Diseases, Pests, and Wildlife Conflicts and Objective 2.3: Foster Agricultural Innovation. Of the four Priority Areas for FY 2023, this project addresses two. The project team is making significant efforts to reach and educate relevant stakeholders. Accordingly, virtual meetings and discussions with stakeholders - including representative from commercial companies - are made publicly available and also recorded: https://youtu.be/BCJ4FRZCqzE https://youtu.be/zJjyTEdNqxU Changes/Problems:So far, we have not encountered any real problems. We have made some minor personnel changes, but the project outline remains and progress is according to schedule. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project team is making significant efforts to reach and educate relevant stakeholders. Accordingly, virtual meetings and discussions with stakeholders - including representative from commercial companies - are made publicly available and also recorded: https://youtu.be/BCJ4FRZCqzE https://youtu.be/zJjyTEdNqxU In addition, seven educational newsletters are publicly available on the project website. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project team is making significant efforts to reach and educate relevant stakeholders. Accordingly, virtual meetings and discussions with stakeholders - including representative from commercial companies - are made publicly available and also recorded: https://youtu.be/BCJ4FRZCqzE https://youtu.be/zJjyTEdNqxU In addition, seven educational newsletters are publicly available on the project website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This project has a strong and comprehensive outreach component. We will deliver extension presentations, produce educational videos, and we will continue to engage with stakeholders, who are invited to attend meetings and discussions.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This is the first project report, so we have not yet had many opportunities to produce outputs with direct benefits to our target audience. However, applied research results, meeting recordings, newsletters and other resources on use of atmospheric cold plasma are shared on a publicly available website (https://chrnansen.wixsite.com/nansen2/cold-plasma-1). This website is updated on a regular basis and as new results and recommendations become available. This project focuses on producers of organic processing tomato transplants. However, such producers typically also producing other transplants (vegetables and ornamentals). Secondly, many producers of organic processing tomato transplants also produce conventional transplants. So, in many ways - outcomes from this project will benefit specialty crop production beyond organic tomatoes. Below, a list of presentations given to different audiences in which the three frontier technologies were highlighted: Nansen C. The Use of drones in cut flower production. Virtual presentation at the 2024 Grow Pro Series (https://endowment.org/growpro/). American Floral Endowment. June 18th, 2024. Nansen C, Savi P, Mantri A. Outdoor hands-on presentations to rotating groups at Oakville Grape Day about drone-based releases of natural enemies. In person at Oakville Experimental Vineyard, 1380 Oakville Grade Rd (https://wineserver.ucdavis.edu/events/oakville-grape-day). June 5, 2025. Nansen C, Savi P, Khodaverdi H, Hammond M, Mantri A. Use of plasma activated water (PAW) and optical sensing in greenhouse crop production. Presentation to the Plant California Alliance Research Committee. Feb 28th, 2024. Nansen C, Layfield B, Kong Z, Ma N, Teske A, Mantri A. Reducing pesticide risk by using drones to enhance performance of biological control. Presentation to the Pest Management Advisory Committee (PMAC) under the Department of Pesticide Regulation. Nov 9th, 2023. Nansen C. Optical (remote) sensing of crop stress. Guest lecture in Agricultural & Environmental Technologies, TAE 10, intro to technology. Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, Oct 18th, 2023. Nansen C. Smart Spray and optimized spraying of pesticides. BSE Senior Design Project Proposals. Delivered to senior students at UC Davis Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, Oct 4th, 2023.

Publications

  • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: https://chrnansen.wixsite.com/nansen2/cold-plasma-1
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Savi PJ, Mantri A, Khodaverdi H, Zou Y, Moraes GJ, Nansen C. 2024. Indirect effects of plasma-activated water irrigation on Tetranychus urticae populations (Acari: Tetranychidae). Journal of Pest Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-024-01791-0.