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GATES, the acronym of “Applying GAming TEchnologies for training professionals in Smart Farming”, is a European Project, supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, whose overall objective is to develop a serious game-based training platform, making use of different gaming technologies, in order to train professionals across the agricultural value chain on the use of Smart Farming Technology, thus allowing deploying its full economic and environmental potential in European agriculture.

The GATES gaming platform will be marketed as a white-label app within 1-2 years of project’s end (June 2019), with the possibility of being customized according to the needs of paying customer (SFT companies, universities and extension services /agricultural consultants). It will function either as a stand-alone or as a complementary tool to traditional training methods, covering a wide range of agricultural settings in order to cater for the needs of different professionals in the SFT value chain. An in-depth market analysis and a Business Plan will be conducted during the project for facilitating the entry of the GATES gaming platform in the market.

Project’s website:

https://www.gates-game.eu/en

The Project “Optimised Pest Integrated Management to precisely detect and control plant diseases in perennial crops and open-field vegetables” (OPTIMA) will develop an environmentally friendly IPM framework for vineyards, apple orchards and carrots by providing a holistic integrated approach which includes all critical aspects related to integrated disease management, such as

  • novel bio-PPPs use,
  • disease prediction models,
  • spectral early disease detection systems and
  • precision spraying techniques.

It will contribute significantly to the reduction of the European agriculture reliance on chemical PPPs resulting in reduced use of agrochemicals, lower residues and reduced impacts on human health.

Project’s website:

https://optima-h2020.eu/

 

Smart-AKIS is a European Network mainstreaming Smart Farming Technologies among the European farmer community and bridging the gap between practitioners and research on the identification and delivery of new Smart Farming solutions to fit the farmers’ needs.

Smart-AKIS objectives in figures:

  • 2 ½ years, starting March 2016.
  • € 1,997,731.25 budget funded by Horizon 2020.
  • 200 Smart Farming solutions showcased and assessed on Smart Farming Platform.
  • + 50 Smart Farming solutions adopted by farmers and practitioners.
  • 760 stakeholders engaged in 14 regional and 1 transnational Innovation Workshops.
  • 35 collaborative innovative projects generated from regional workshops.
  • 10 transnational collaborative innovative projects generated from workshops.
  • 50 links created with Operational Groups.
  • 700 users of the Smart Farming Community Platform.

Project’s website:

https://www.smart-akis.com/

 

Control of plant diseases is becoming more and more difficult because pathogens are acquiring resistance to the most used active ingredients in commercial fungicides. The latest generation of fungicides contains active ingredients that are pathogen-specific and therefore induce the evolution of resistant strains. To overcome this, an alternative and promising strategy is the stimulation of plants’ natural metabolic resistance. Some products supplied to plants through their leaves have been found to increase plant resistance to diseases by a complex mechanism, often linked to regulation of gene expression. These products are both artificially synthesised and abstracted from biological plant and/or microbial material.

The main objective of LIFE GREEN GRAPES is to improve the anti-parasitic response of vineyards through the use of innovative natural products and to increase the biodiversity associated with vineyards. It aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of predictive crop protection models (such as decision support systems), coupled with agronomic techniques and foliar interventions on vine plants, based on the use of products to increase plant resistance and biocontrol agents.  The project will help reduce the amount of chemical fertilisers and pesticides used, in line with the Biocidal Product Regulation. It will thus contribute to the Roadmap for a Resource Efficient Europe and the Circular Economy Action Plan.

The Cyclamen Project falls within the LIFE Capacity Building Programme. The coordinator and sole beneficiary of the project is the Department of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment of Cyprus. The Cyclamen Project aims to enhance the effectiveness of the support services and assistance provided to potential LIFE Programme applicants from Cyprus. The reason for this is to improve Cyprus’ performance in terms of both numbers and quality of proposals. The Cyclamen team provides LIFE applicants and beneficiaries with guidance (during the preparation and submission of proposals) and counselling during a project’s lifetime, but also helps applicants exploit any opportunities arising from projects’ results. The project entails trainings, workshops, seminars and meetings for the purpose of acquiring skills and dexterities that will be sustained well beyond the project’s lifetime. The project will assist in the creation of partnerships, enhance the collaboration among authorities and stakeholders and promote the cooperation in international project proposals, as well as the involvement of the private sector in co-financing of projects.

Project’s website:

http://lifecyclamen.com.cy/en/

It is generally accepted that organic farming favors environmental sustainability but there is no clear evidence whether it may also improve climate indicators (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions). There is also no clear scientific evidence that organic food is associated with better health status.

The ORGANIKO LIFE + project placed particular emphasis on actions that mitigate the effects of climate change on agriculture, the environment and human beings.

The main objective of the project was to highlight the comparative advantages of organic farming and products against these conventional ones.

The following indicators were used to highlight these advantages:

  • Climate change mitigation efficiency
  • Agronomic and environmental quality
  • Biomarkers of exposures to pesticides and biomarkers of oxidative stress/inflammation in relation to systematic consumption of organic food by children.

 

Project’s website:

www.organikolife.com