- On June 12, 13 and 14, more than 80 people will meet at the UPC’s Baix Llobregat Campus to share the conclusions drawn in each work package (WP)
- The INVITE project, within the framework of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, aims to improve the efficiency of the agricultural sector by incorporating innovative tools and models in plant variety testing
- The CREDA team, composed of Ibtissem Taghouti, Sergio Urioste Daza and José Maria Gil, will present the results of the WP6 analysis to improve the efficiency and transparency of the registration system
The Centre for Agro-food Economics and Development has organized the annual meeting of the European project INVITE (Innovations in plant variety testing in Europe) on June 12, 13 and 14 at the Baix Llobregat Campus of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC).
During the conference, which provides for the attendance of more than 80 participating partners, the investigations carried out in each work package will be discussed and shared, as well as the conclusions drawn.
The INVITE initiative is part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, and aims to improve the valorisation and promotion of plant varieties that are more adapted to sustainable management practices and that are more resistant to climate change. Thus, INVITE aims to develop and incorporate innovative tools and models that improve the efficiency of the agricultural sector and facilitate the management and incorporation of appropriate policies.
The agenda of the annual meeting is distributed in such a way that: on Monday 12, the partners will share the progress made in all the packages; on Tuesday 13, the results of the analysis of different plants will be presented; and on Wednesday 14 will be dedicated to the realization of activities and field visits together with some stakeholders.
Ibtissem Taghouti, PhD in Agri-food Economics, works on the project together with Sergio Urioste Daza, Environmental and Development Engineer, and José Maria Gil, director of CREDA. For Taghouti, INVITE “is a unique opportunity to improve both the efficiency of variety testing and the information available to stakeholders regarding plant performance under production conditions and biotic and abiotic stress”.
In addition, the meeting in Barcelona “will propose the co-preparation of guidelines for policy makers with the intention of including new features and improving the harmonization of DUS and VCU at EU level”, says the doctor. Thus, “this day will also test material of heterogeneous plant reproduction”. In this line, the CREDA colleagues will present the results obtained in the WP6 analysis to improve the efficiency and transparency of the registration system of innovative plant varieties.
INVITE, which began in 2019 and aims to finish in June 2024, has analyzed ten plant species: apple, forage grass, sunflower, soybean, wheat, corn, potatoes, tomato, rapeseed and alfalfa. The initiative is led by the National Institute for Research on Agriculture, Food and the Environment of Paris (INRAE), and has a total of 38 participating entities.
