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Oleoprecisión 4.0, supra-autonomous working group

Nov. 24, 2017 | www.oleoprecision.es

Madrid, 25 September 2017 – On September 19th in Madrid a meeting was held to launch the operations group entitled Oleoprecisión 4.0 ‘Modernización del cultivo de oleaginosas en España’ (Modernization of oilseed cultivation in Spain), where all the operators belonging to the group had the opportunity to receive information on the current status of the work carried out to date on the planned work project.

The National Rural Development Program earmarked aid totalling 84,201.40 euros for the creation for this supra-autonomous working group for innovation in Materials and productivity and Agricultural Sustainability (AEI-Agri). This aid is confined to the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), with 53% participation. The remaining 47% falls to MAPAMA.

The objective of Oleoprecisión 4.0 is to proceed with an innovative project which allows for the implementation of solutions to modernize the cultivation of oilseeds in Spain, improving their profitability, traceability, and sustainability in order to confront environmental and climate-based challenges and to follow the trends underscored in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). To fulfil these goals, a multi-disciplinary analysis which incorporates new precision cultivation and agricultural techniques will be carried out.

Oleoprecisión 4.0 is led by the group Sovena Oilseeds España, which together with Acor, Manzanilla Olive and ACOPAEX, comprise the working group. In addition, the group will benefit from the support of several research centers throughout the country, such as the Andalusian Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IFAPA), the Technological Institute of Agriculture Castilla y León (ITACyL), the Center of Scientific and Technological Research of Extremadura (CICYTEX), and Ideagro, in Murcia. The group will also benefit from the collaborative efforts of major companies in the sector, such as Syngenta, Yara, Alltech, Rivulis Irrigation, Bynse and Agrodrone.

During the meeting, it became clear that the modification of the cultivation techniques for oilseeds is needed in order to improve competitiveness with other traditional irrigated agricultural products and to increase profitability. In addition, it is considered “to be of vital importance that we have this working group to promote integrated solutions that can improve the efficiency and sustainability of oilseed agriculture, assuring an assertive response to the needs of the industry, quantitatively and qualitatively speaking. For this reason, it is indispensable that all agents in the agro-food network be present, and working with research centers,” said Aguntín Murillo, Project Coordinator.

Moving forward, the members of the working group will conduct a study on possible improvements to farming techniques to increase production, quality and traceability of oilseed cultivation. The study will therefore focus on the adaptation of farming to different areas, resistance to weeds to reduce losses in production, the effects on quality and traceability, and finally, the incorporation of irrigation management and fertilization techniques coming from the cultivation of other crops, with the goal being to implement them in the growing of oilseeds. All this information will be fundamental for the development of an innovative project, one which will be assessed by the companies which make up the group in the near future.

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Agrifood Comunicación

Andrea Villarino – avillarino@agrifood.com – tel. 91222 80 07 -