BioBive, the project that contributes to new methods for sustainable pathogen control
The kick-off meeting of the BioBive project, with the participation of EIT Food, which has 16 partners from six countries to carry out research over four years with 6.8 million euros in funding.
BioBive project - Biodegradable Delivery Systems for Plant Pathogens Control of Horticultural Crops Through Bioactive Agents- proposes an innovative solution based on the development of controlled release systems of bio-based compounds with bioactive capabilities to control plant pathogens of different horticultural crops, which have been selected for their relevance in Europe.
EIT Food South participates in the project contributing in the work packages of the identification of social, economic and environmental impacts, mainly in the identification and involvement of the main stakeholders, as well as in the support to the communication and dissemination of the results of the project.
The BIOBIVE consortium considers it “crucial” to address the problem of emissions in the current agricultural system, which is facing major challenges such as “climate change, soil erosion and biodiversity loss” and will contribute to these objectives through sustainable alternatives to current synthetic chemicals. These actions will minimize the environmental footprint “by decreasing the use of fossil materials in the manufacture of agricultural plastics and reducing the use of synthetic pesticides and will improve crop yields and health, leading to innovative, sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural solutions.
The efficiency of the proposed systems will be tested in real case studies on three major European crops (tomatoes, carrots and strawberries) chosen on the basis of different socio-economic aspects.
The reduction of pesticides is one of these necessary actions, as underlined by the European Commission. Currently, the EU applies strict standards and is working on new ones that aim to reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2030. “Therefore, it is urgent to look for new biocides with higher efficacy, biocompatibility and biodegradability to overcome the problems of traditional agrochemicals.”
In this sense, BIOBIVE foresees the incorporation of bioactive agents such as extracts from plants or algae and microorganisms with antifungal capabilities to different biodegradable release systems of such compounds, which will improve crop yield and health. These systems will be applied to tomato, carrot and strawberry crops, on which scientific teams consisting of biologists, chemists, bioplastics manufacturers, biotechnologists, materials engineers, farmers, computer experts and economists will work.
Finally, it should be noted that the consortium is composed of 16 partners from 6 European countries: three universities (Universidad de León - Spain, Universita degli studi di Bari Aldo Moro - Italy, and University of South-Eastern Norway - Norway), five technology centers or research institutes (Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche - Italy, Fundación Centro Tecnológico de Miranda de Ebro - Spain, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung EV - Germany, Instituto Tecnológico Agrario De CyL - Spain, and SINTEF - Norway), and seven companies or SMEs (AgriBioM srl - Italy, EIT Food CLC South S. L. - Spain, FKUR Kunststoff GMBH - Germany, Guerin Plastiques - France, Ideal Fruits S.A. - Spain, Standard BIO AS - Norway, and Van Loon Chemical Innovations BV - The Netherlands), and one cooperative (Horcaol Soc. Coop. - Spain).
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