Arable farmers are being sought for a new Defra-funded project which aims to develop alternative solutions for slug control.

Since metaldehyde pellets were banned from April 2022, ferric phosphate pellets are the only chemical option left for slug control.

Now a £2.6m research project, funded by Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme and delivered by Innovate UK, is seeking to provide arable farmers with precision slug control solutions.

See also: How slugs in wheat are being tackled through farm-based research

The three-year project, called Strategies Leading to Improved Management and Enhanced Resilience Against Slugs (Slimers), was launched on the Small Robot Company stand at last week’s Groundswell event.

Innovate UK will deliver the project, which will involve more than 100 UK farms and six industry partners.

The aims are to reduce reliance on slug pellet usage through precision application of treatments to slug hotspots, and to advance alternative biological control.

For stage one, 30 “Slug Sleuths” – farmers determined to overcome their slug burdens – are needed to host paid-for trials on their own farm.

They will test the developing technology and novel patch location forecasting to help researchers learn more about slug behaviour in a bid to create a long-term solution.

The Slug Sleuths will work side-by-side with autonomous bots to improve artificial intelligence models and advance pellet-free biological solutions.

Tom Allen-Stevens, project lead and founder of the British On-Farm Innovation Network (Bofin), which is leading the project, said: “Slugs are arable farming’s biggest pest issue which is estimated to cost the UK industry about £43.5m a year.

“Developing solutions to tackle these pests sustainably could be a game-changer for the entire industry and wider supply chain.”

Farmers interested in being involved can sign up at slimers.co.uk.