The importance of research in the fruit and vegetable sector
On 24 June, the international workshop “European Conference on Research and Innovation in the Fruit and Vegetable Sector” was held online
26.06.2021 – NEWS
The international workshop “European conference on research and innovation in the fruit and vegetable sector” was held online on 24 June. This workshop was organised in the framework of the NUTRIMAN project, a Nitrogen and Phosphorus thematic programme gathering knowledge on the applications and practices of recovered biological fertilisers, funded under the Horizon 2020 programme.
The conference was opened estrategia de la granja a la mesa strategy and the presentation of the new Horizonte Europa work programme by Natalia Brzezina from DG AGRI Research & Innovation Unit (B2).
Then, project coordinator Edward Someus presented NUTRIMAN and the associated platform. It focuses on technologies and products to recycle nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. This platform was designed specifically for farmers, it now contains 81 carefully selected products and technologies that are currently being used by the industry. It is a database that provides a wide range of practical information on ready-to-use bio-based fertilisers. In addition, the platform provides several information documents that can be consulted and downloaded in eight languages (EN, FR, IT, ES; DE, NL, PL, HU). All shared information will be available until 2031.
The third speaker, Davide Viaggi (project coordinator) presented the CONSOLE project – “CONTRACT SOLUTIONS for effective and durable delivery of agri-environmental and climate public goods by EU agriculture and forestry”. Its overall objective is to drive innovation by building a community of practice and it designs and tests effective cooperation models. It also develops a new contractual framework that supports implementation by multiple actors.
The next topic, declared AREFLH president Simona Caselli, “is one of the most important to be studied and developed in the future”: carbon sequestration. Professors Valentini and Alberto M. Levi presented the subject to the audience. Professor Valentini’s expertise concerns the role of land use change and forestry in the carbon cycle, biodiversity and bioenergy. As for M. Levi, he applied Tree Talkers (see www.openfields.it for more information on this technology) in his plum orchards. The tool monitors the health of the trees in real time and also measures the amount of CO2 captured.
In conclusion, Simona Caselli highlighted the great opportunity this conference provided for the audience to meet high-level speakers and future topics that are in line with the new Horizon Europe programme, the F2F strategy and the Green Deal.
The presentations are available on the AREFLH website.
The main missions of AREFLH (Assembly of European Horticultural Regions) are to:
– to represent its 15 member regions, its 35 POs / APOs, from 10 European countries;
– to defend the economic and social interests of the horticultural and horticultural sectors in Europe;
– to encourage the exchange of best practices, partnerships and joint projects between regions and professional organisations;
– actively seek new solutions to the main problems affecting the future of fruit and vegetable production in Europe.
