The EcoStack Annual Meeting 2022 will be held at University of Barcelona, Faculty of Biology (Edifici Margalef, Aula Magnac – Diagonal Avenue 643, 08028 Barcelona) and remotely on 21, 22 and 23 September 2022.
It will be the occasion for all EcoStack partners & stakeholders to discuss the results obtained and plan the details of future work.
MULTIPLE CROP PROTECTION PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
June 3, 2022 – 10:00 to 11:30 A.M. CEST
Online event | Zoom
One of our big challenges today is to produce, on the one side, food for growing world population, but also to assure quality food, reduce inputs and less impacting the environment. The Farm to Fork strategies of the European Commission puts this forward with, for example, reducing pesticide use with 50% by 2030. In this frame, the H2020 Ecostack project developed and tested, in different countries in Europe, a large diversity of farming practices and tools.
This conference will present insights about advancements in practices to reduce pest and disease pressure on crops such as relay intercropping, cultivar mixtures, or the combination of both. For the latter also the occurrence of natural enemies in crops will be critically assessed. Moreover, the conference will inform about the use of such practices and other environmentally friendly practices among farmers in Europe. We invite all stakeholders interested in sustainable agricultural practices for crop production to join the conference and discuss results with us.
The 3rd Annual Meeting & General Assembly of EcoStack, which took place on 28th and 29th September 2021, was held online for a second consecutive year. It was a highly productive meeting and provided consortium members and stakeholders with an opportunity to critically discuss results obtained to date. Importantly, it also provided an ideal opportunity for participants to give valuable feedback on our achievements so as to effectively guide further research and dissemination.
Additionally the management board had the opportunity to present their work of the last 6 months and define actions for the next year and beyond.
We all enjoyed this virtual meeting but very much look forward to meet in person next year in Krakow!
A workshop entitled “Bioprotection: Present and Future” will be held online, on November 23-24, 2021 as part of the dissemination activities of the Horizon 2020 RIA “EcoStack”.
On 23rd November 2021 we are organising a workshop on microbial biological control agents in agricultural crops. We will discuss opportunities and challenges in the development of new microbiological tools to protect crops from pests and diseases – products on the market today and products for the future. The workshop targets farmers, advisors, authorities, companies and researchers with interest in microbial biocontrol. Together with speakers from Koppert, Bayer and the EcoStack consortium, we discuss challenges and possibilities of microbial biocontrol products.
On 24th November 2021 the workshop will focus on the identification and sustainable exploitation of bioactive molecules/genes from biological control agents, both as novel biopesticides and to enhance the impact of currently used BCAs. The workshop targets scientists, industry, advisors, and authority representatives, with interest in the development of novel molecules for crop protection, with a focus on RNAi- and fusion protein-based technologies. Together with invited speakers from Syngenta, Greenlight Biosciences, national agencies, academia and the EcoStack consortium, the workshop discusses challenges in the efficacy, safety and regulation of novel ‘biopesticides’, as well as the needs for future research and development.
EcoStack has made an inventory of regulatory systems applicable to plant beneficial microorganisms, and will propose scenarios for their improvement. At this workshop, preliminary scenarios will be discussed with representatives of major stakeholders and regulatory institutions. The EcoStack activities in this area can hopefully lead to more efficient regulatory processes in the future.
The 5th Management Board Meeting of EcoStack has been held on March 03-04, 2021, unfortunately once more in a virtual format. However, the meeting was very stimulating and productive, giving the chance to assess the very good results achieved, in spite of the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which slowed down some of the planned activities. We are half way through, and what done so far looks promising for a successful prosecution of EcoStack.
The 2nd Annual Meeting of the H2020 project EcoStack took place on September 22 and 23, 2020. This was a unique opportunity for a stimulating two-way interaction among researchers and stakeholders, which is essential for adequate result dissemination.
Additionally the management board and all the beneficiaries had the opportunity to present their work of the last 6 months and define actions for the next year and beyond.
The 3rd Management Board Meeting of EcoStack has been held on March 10-11, 2020, in Uppsala (Sweden), at SLU. We had 2 intense full days of very productive work, in spite of the fact that part of the members of the Management Board were unable to physically attend due to travel restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Many thanks to Hanna Friberg and Velemir Ninkovic for organizing this meeting and to arrange at the very last minute excellent facilities for a smooth web communication!
The third EcoStack Management Board meeting will be held at SLU Ultuna campus in Uppsala in March 2020 (10/03 to 11/03/2020).
A very advantageous Annual Meeting has been held last week in Coimbra (Portugal), in a very nice environment.
In this occasion the management board and all the beneficiaries had the opportunity to present their work of the last 6 months and define actions for the next year and beyond.
Many thanks to Paulo Sousa and his collaborators at the University of Coimbra for the excellent hospitality!
