A major project aimed at creating and validating an advanced sensing and AI system for spotting pest pressure and plant stress in UK tomato glasshouses has successfully concluded.
The TomatoGuard project, funded by Innovate UK, led by Altered Carbon and supported by APS Produce, Fargro Limited and the UK Agri-Tech Centre, has brought together expertise across industry and research that contributed to the development of the TomatoGuard sensors. These sensors, produced by Altered Carbon, were deployed in experimental and commercial tomato trials.
At the heart of the project is a novel integration of Altered Carbon’s graphene-based volatile organic compound (VOC) sensors, compact electronics and cutting-edge machine-learning models, all delivered through an intuitive cloud platform designed for growers.
Trials conducted in lab, controlled growth environments and working commercial glasshouses showed that this “digital nose” technology can detect biochemical stress signatures from plants. These signals pave the way for earlier warnings, more precise biological control strategies and a reduced need for chemical crop protection. The UK Agri-Tech Centre carried out experimental work to provide data from growth chambers and glasshouses.
During commercial testing at APS Produce, sensor alerts aligned with grower-identified spider-mite presence in 69% of cases, with a clear plan laid out to tighten accuracy further. Operational learnings focused on improving connectivity reliability, extending battery lifespan, optimising sensor placement and understanding airflow effects within the canopy. Together, these findings help position the technology for commercial readiness.
Delivering benefits for protected cropping
Beyond the immediate results, TomatoGuard demonstrates strong potential to deliver economic and environmental benefits for UK-protected cropping. By enabling earlier intervention, the platform is designed to support integrated pest management (IPM), boost labour efficiency and contribute to net-zero aims by enabling more targeted, lower-input production.
The project also produced new data, hardware and software assets and strengthened industry collaborations that could support future expansion into additional crops and stress-indicator profiles.
Sam Onwugbenu, Co-founder and AI Lead at Altered Carbon, said:
“Partnering on TomatoGuard has been a valuable journey for Altered Carbon. We’ve moved from prototype sensing to real-crop deployment and learned how real glasshouse conditions influence system performance in ways you only get by doing it in industry. The potential to turn plant chemistry into actionable alerts and to empower growers with earlier insight is truly game-changing for UK horticulture. Looking ahead, the next stage is likely to focus on refined hardware (long-life power, alternative connectivity such as LoRaWAN/4G), early-season trials for pre-symptomatic detection and expansion of the signature library to cover additional pests and crop stresses. The ambition is to bring this into a commercial product offering, scaling across the UK protected-ag sector and reinforcing the UK’s leadership in agri-AI and sensor innovation.”
Fargro provided agronomic guidance throughout the project, helping shape the development of Altered Carbon’s VOC sensor technology. A key role was the independent monitoring of a commercial trial at APS Produce during summer 2025, evaluating both sensor accuracy and the usability of the Scent Studio platform. The report found that the sensors show real promise for detecting spider mite and recommended wider trials once battery life and Wi-Fi resilience have been enhanced.
Lori-Leah Griffiths, Technical and Regulatory Specialist at Fargro Limited, said:
“Early detection is key to the management of pests, diseases and innovative sensor technologies will have an important part to play in sustainable biological applications and Integrated Pest Management strategies. The TomatoGuard project has demonstrated the potential for VOC sensors to detect spider mite in the glasshouse and provide value to growers seeking to improve both environmental and economic outcomes. We look forward to seeing how Altered Carbon’s technology develops from the learning these preliminary trials have delivered.”
APS Produce, a long-established tomato grower, hosted the field trials and supported development of the Scent Studio interface. Sensors were placed across a section of tomato crop, with APS staff providing feedback on both system performance and platform functionality. APS believes further trials would be highly beneficial as battery and connectivity improvements come online.
A spokesperson for APS Produce said:
“Effective crop protection starts with early detection of pests and diseases. With a more transient workforce, it is difficult to train staff in effective identification and systems that can automatically feed back the pest type and location will be key to future success. The TomatoGuard system in the future could mean treatments are made to the crop more accurately and at an earlier stage, resulting in less crop protection products required and reduced yield losses.”
Andy Evans, Innovation Lead for Crop Health at the UK Agri-Tech Centre, said:
“Working with the partners in the TomatoGuard project allowed the UK Agri-Tech Centre to be involved in the road map of sensor development through to deployment and testing in a commercial setting. Detecting changes in plant signalling to indicate stress is a step change in the reduction of unnecessary nutrient and pesticide inputs in tomato production systems. The use of the TomatoGuard system has the potential to make a real difference to tomato growers, particularly in the early detection of crop stress. I look forward to seeing the next stage of TomatoGuard development, and its deployment commercially.”
