Partners
CREA (coordinator) - Italy
Council for Agriculture Research and Economics (CREA) is a public research body under the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies supervision, with scientific expertise in various agricultural sectors. CREA is organized in 12 different highly skilled Research Centers employing 2,000 people, half of whom researchers and technologists. In this proposal is involved the Research Centre for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (CREA – OF), which is divided in four headquarters, two of them participating in this proposal, Pescia (PT) and Pontecagnano (SA). CREA-OF has specific skills on plant physiology, plant pathology, fertigation management, cultivation techniques, soilless culture, eco-sustainable defense in greenhouse crops, and development and implementation of models for irrigation of vegetable crops.
EVJA - Italy
EVJA is an innovative start-up founded in June 2015 in Italy, operating in the Smart Agriculture market, and is participated by BayWa (GER) and RWA (AT), major players of the German and Austrian agricultural markets. The company has also been selected to take part in accelerators including Startupbootcamp Foodtech in Rome (IT), Agro Innovation Lab in Vienna (AT) and Deutsche Telekom Hubraum IoT in Bonn (GER). EVJA has a patent for a micro-device functioning and charging completely wireless, to be used in a vast array of IoT systems. This company is revolutionizing agriculture by combining AI, IoT and advanced agronomic models. Its system, OPI (Observe Prevent Improve), is an Intelligent Support System based on sensors, AI and advanced agronomic algorithms. EVJA is an evolving company, in fields ranging from engineering, physics and agronomy to precision farming, machine learning and international business development, and is on the market since May 2018.
UNIPI - Italy
University of Pisa (UNIPI) accounts for 50.000 enrolled students and 3000 staff. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment Science (DAFE) counts more than 150 permanent employees. DAFE is research and teaching centre and it is born trough the merging of three departments of faculty of agriculture. DAFE is in charge of 6 different University courses and the research activities are concerning agricultural and environmental economy, rural sociology, agronomy, agricultural science botany, genetic, food science, rural engineering and rural building, livestock science, plant protection and agronomy. Agricultural Economics group has a distinguished position in the scientific Italian landscape for activities encompassing agricultural economics and rural sociology. The group has participated in previous EU projects and has wide experience in conduction farmers’ surveys to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The vegetable greenhouse research team has nearly 30-year experience in RTD, demonstration and dissemination activities related to irrigation and fertigation management of soil, container-grown vegetable, and ornamental crops either in open field or under protected cultivation. The entomology research team has a long experience in alternative and biological pest control, in particular interactions in the parasitoid-plant-phytophagous model, repellency and toxicity of plant extracts against agricultural and medical insects, and pollinator insects of crops.
Bioplanet - Italy
BIOPLANET s.c.a. is the only Italian company dedicated to the mass rearing of insects and mites for the biological control in agriculture. Founded in 1999, when the activities of the former company Biolab were acquired, BIOPLANET nowadays breeds 20 species of beneficial insects and mites, used mainly in protected crops, but also in open field, orchards and landscapes management. Together with the improvement of the application of natural enemies, BIOPLANET is also engaged in the development of other low-risk control methods, with the aim to optimize IPM strategies and promote a new approach in agricultural systems, supporting the idea that high quality and true environmental sustainability can be achieved on a larger extent. BIOPLANET technical department is based on field technicians providing technical support and customising application biocontrol strategies in different crop conditions and in more than thirty Countries. Extensive resources are invested in specific experimental and demonstrative programs, also in cooperation with national and international research institutes.
UAL - Spain
The University of Almeria (UAL) is a teaching and research university that has 12,000 undergraduate students and 600 PhD students. It has wide range of teaching and research activities with a particular focus on greenhouse vegetable production because of the local greenhouse industry. The UAL has a high degree of interaction with research agents from other centers, extension agents and with businesses from local industry. The participating members from the Department of Agronomy have considerable experience in the use of models and monitoring approaches to improve the management of nutrients and irrigation and in climate control of greenhouse production systems.
CAJAMAR FOUNDATION - Spain
Cajamar Foundation (CAJAMAR) is a Spanish non-profit foundation created by Cajamar cooperative bank. The research activity is carried out in the Experimental Station (E.S.), which has four departments: Agri-Sustainability, Greenhouse Technology, Food and Health, and Bio-Economy. Furthermore, Cajamar has a Dissemination department, which is responsible for the publication of technical documents (http://www.publicacionescajamar.es/), and the organization of transfer activities (more than 100 with almost 8,000 attendants). The E.S. has participated in more than 40 public research projects in the last 10 years.
GRUPO LA CAÑA - Spain
Grupo La Caña was founded in 1980. It has become the leading company in the horticultural sector at national level, and a major benchmark within commercialization, exportation, production and distribution of fruit and vegetable products, not only because of its growth, work-commitment and firm quality management, but also due to its focus involving evolution, innovation through R & D activities and adaption to new technologies. Its mission is the national and international contribution to healthy, natural, tasty and sustainable food, based on continuous improvement through R & D activities, in personalized advice to our farmers, and in the processing and marketing of high quality fruit and vegetable products. The company intend to be a reference in terms of food safety, occupational, environmental sustainability, profitability, and social responsibility for our farmers, customers, workers and collaborators. Nowadays, we are working with 2200 farmers and 1200 workers
Akdeniz University - Turkey
Akdeniz University, Antalya (Turkey), founded in 1982 is a pioneering university in science and education. The university has 74,000 undergraduate and graduate students and 2,700 academic staff. Today, Akdeniz University continues its various activities in the fields of education, research and service to society in 24 Faculties, 7 Institutes, 1 School, 1 Conservatory, 12 Vocational Schools and 54 Research and Application Centers. Department of Agricultural Structures and Irrigation, Faculty of Agriculture, is concerned with the optimum use, conservation and development of soil and water resources, planning, projecting and construction of the necessary structures and facilities for the creation of suitable environmental conditions for agricultural production. Basic research topics are studies on evapotranspiration, new techniques in irrigation scheduling, determination of water-yield relations of crops, techniques to increase water use efficiency, use of saline and wastewater in agriculture, improvement of saline and alkaline soils, irrigation-drainage, structural problems of greenhouses, determination of suitable greenhouse types and constructions, automation of greenhouse climate control, plant-environment simulation and modeling. Currently, there are 50 undergraduate, 15 graduate (M.Sc and Ph.D) students studying in the department.
CRRHAB - Tunisia
Regional Research Centre on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture (CRRHAB) is a public research establishment under the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries (MAWRF) and the Tunisian Ministry of High Teaching and Scientific Research (MESRS) supervisions. Created in 2007 at Chott-Mariem, in the centre-east of Tunisia (coastal region), CRRHAB has the mission of carrying out research activities and experimentations on horticulture and organic agriculture. CRRHAB plays an important role at the regional level especially in integrated greenhouses production for the sustainability small-scale farms. Since its creation, the CRRHAB with its multi-specific skills team (plant protection, vegetables, fruit crops, conservation agriculture, plant breeding, soil and water sciences, plant biotechnologies, bioclimatology, etc.) has continued to consolidate its leading position in the integrated horticultural production sector.
INRGREF
The Institut National de Recherches en Génie Rural, Eaux et Forêts (INRGREF) has four research laboratories focus on rural engineering, non-conventional water use in agriculture, management of forest resources, and forest ecology. Its seven experimental stations support field research activities in different ecological regions in Tunisia. As part of its research program, the Institute supervises PhD projects, offers seminars and professional training, and hosts yearly workshops and conferences. INRGREF has financial autonomy under the Tunisian Institute for Agricultural Research and Higher Education (IRESA) and a permanent staff of 57 researchers, 62 technicians, 17 administrative personnel, and 109 laborers.