· More than 150 people have become aware the best practices and technologies available to achieve crop sustainability
· The conference included the inauguration of Rosa Gallardo, director of the ETSIAM of the University of Córdoba
LIFE Resilience, the project co-financed by the LIFE program of the European Union, whose main objective is the prevention of Xylella fastidiosa in high-density farms of both olive and almond trees, held last Monday the online technical conference «LIFE Resilience: best sustainable practices», in order to present and explain to the audience of more than 150 people registered the best practices and technologies available to achieve the sustainability of crops.
The director of the Higher Technical School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineers (ETSIAM) of the University of Córdoba (UCO), Rosa Gallardo, opened the conference and commented that » current agricultural challenges will be met with a culture collaborative innovation”. The LIFE Resilience project, like all those presented during the conference, is a clear example of the value of alliances among companies, farmer associations, universities and research centers.
The workshop continued with the participation of Luis Rallo, professor emeritus at UCO, who highlighted genetic improvement as a key measure of Xylella prevention and the progress being made in this line, both in Italy and Spain, to obtain varieties that are tolerant to the bacteria. Then, Jesús Gil, professor in the area of Agroforestry Engineering at UCO, presented the innovation techniques for optimal application of plant protection considering the strong restrictions that current regulations mark. «There are many efforts being made in the agricultural machinery for an adequate and optimal dosage,» said Gil.
Next, the executive director of the Spanish Association for the Conservation of Living Soils (AEAC.SV), Óscar Veroz, commented the virtues of green roofs, a fundamental point in the LIFE Resilience project, which has generated significant synergies with the project where he participates, LIFE Agromitiga. «The roofs allow sustainable agriculture with benefits such as stopping soil degradation, increasing organic matter, fertility, quality and availability of water or the farm’s biodiversity, among others, as well as helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” explained.
Finally, Jorge Blanco, head of the R&D Area of Greenfield Technologies, stressed the importance of improving soil efficiency, showing some of the technologies available for it. As Blanco explained, “at LIFE Resilience we are using these tools to create a model of good practices, where we will be more efficient in the use of resources and we will be able to monitor, through strategically selected georeferenced points, where to act and the impact that our measures will have in each farm in terms of plant health, soil and even in the insect population. »
The LIFE Resilience project, in which 9 partners from Spain, Italy and Portugal participate, began its activities in 2018 and will run until 2022 working with trials on the demonstration farms available in the three countries.