The CEBAS of Murcia has held an event with companies from the region to discuss new technological proposals for agriculture. This event was organized in collaboration with the biotechnology companies association BIOVEGEN and the entity Cajamar and had more than 150 attendees from 30 biotechnology companies and various research centers.
The presentation of the workshops was led by Pedro Martínez Gómez, director of CEBAS-CSIC; Jesús López, representative of Cajamar in Murcia; and José Pellicer, president of BIOVEGEN. BIOVEGEN is a public-private association, led by the business sector, which brings together entities from the agri-food sector interested in plant innovation, such as plant variety breeders, fertilization and plant nutrition companies, agri-biotechnology companies, and management of R&D, as well as public research organizations.
During the workshops, various researchers from CEBAS presented a wide catalog of technologies available for agricultural use as bio-stimulants that act on proteins involved in the mineral nutrition of crops and new strategies to evaluate the adaptation of crops to challenging environments based on the natural intelligence of pollinators. Additionally, new tools were presented to assess soil microbiomes, the CEBAS service for in vitro cultivation and obtaining edited plants, and the CEBAS platform based on AI for the mass phenotyping of plants. Finally, the center’s work in identifying resistance targets against viruses in plants was described.
On the other hand, various companies from Murcia have participated, such as FITOSOIL located in Alcantarilla, which is a leading laboratory in agro-food and environmental analysis; PROBELTE with its operations center in Molina de Segura, which has presented the technological developments of Agronova Biotech for sustainable agriculture; MICROGAIA, a spin-off of CEBAS based in the Scientific Park of Murcia, which has presented its microbiological solutions for soil and plants; the Cieza-based company LUCAS BIOTECH, which has introduced its biotechnological products that transform and nourish the soil and plants, and ABIOPEP, another spin-off of CEBAS located in the Scientific Park, which has discussed technological solutions in plant health. Finally, the technician from the company GENOMA LAB in Alhama presented its biotechnological solutions applied to agriculture, and the Almerian company BEYOND SEEDS BIOTECH, specialized in crop genetic improvement. The event concluded with a roundtable discussion on financing and acceleration of agri-biotech projects in the Murcia Region, featuring representatives from CDTI Innovation, INFO Murcia, and CAJAMAR INNOVA.
Program
- 9:00 h. Reception of attendees
- 9:30 h. Opening of the Event
- Pedro Martínez. Director CEBAS-CSIC
- Jesús López. Director of Institutional Relations at Cajamar in Murcia
- José Pellicer. President BIOVEGEN
- 9:45 h. Presentation of CEBAS-CSIC’s technological capabilities
- Pedro Martínez. Director CEBAS-CSIC
- 10:00 h. Block I RESOURCES: sustainability of existing water-soil resources. Moderated by: Gonzaga Ruiz de Gauna. BIOVEGEN
- Evaluation of the effect of biostimulants on proteins involved in the mineral nutrition of crops
- Manuel Nieves. Senior Scientist CEBAS-CSIC
- Evaluation of the effect of biostimulants on proteins involved in the mineral nutrition of crops
- Natural Intelligence for Crop Adaptation to Challenging Environments
- Ángela Sánchez. Project Researcher CEBAS-CSIC
- FITOSOIL: leading laboratory in agri-food and environmental analysis
- Miguel Ángel Sarrión. Technical Head of Physical-Chemical
- PROBELTE: from the laboratory to the field: R&D biotechnological in Agronova Biotech for sustainable agriculture
- Antonio Bernal. Chief R&D Officer
- 10:45 AM. Block II NUTRITION AND HEALTH: plant nutrition and soil health. Moderator: Carlos Baixauli. CAJAMAR
- Soil health: importance of the soil microbiome and approaches for its study
- Felipe Bastida. Scientific researcher CEBAS-CSIC
- MICROGAIA: microbiological solutions for soil and plants
- Cristóbal Sánchez. Director
- Soil health: importance of the soil microbiome and approaches for its study
- LUCAS BIOTECH: biotechnological products that transform and nourish
- Javier Lucas. Manager
- 11:30 AM. Café networking
- 12:15 PM. Block III PLANT: biotechnology applied to plant pathology, plant improvement, and stress biology. Moderator: David Lapuente. BIOVEGEN
- Biotechnological improvement: in vitro cultivation and obtaining edited plants
- Nuria Alburquerque. Scientific researcher CEBAS-CSIC
- Biotechnological improvement: in vitro cultivation and obtaining edited plants
- FruitBreeding 4.0: Revolutionizing the Genetic Improvement of Fruit Trees with AI and Phenomics
- Pedro José Martínez. Senior Scientist CEBAS-CSIC
- Identification of Resistance Targets Against Viruses
- Manuel Miras. Postdoctoral Researcher Ramón y Cajal CEBAS-CSIC
- ABIOPEP: Technological Solutions in Plant Health
- Yolanda Hernando. Managing Director
- GENOMA LAB: Biotechnology Applied to Agriculture
- José Manuel Lucas. CEO and Co-founder
- BEYOND SEEDS BIOTECH GROUP: Genetic Sovereignty: New Value Creation Model for Producers and Marketers
- Edgar García. Head of Genetic Improvement Area
- 13:15 h. Round table “Financing and acceleration of agri-biotechnology projects in the Region of Murcia”. Moderator: Carlos García. CEBAS-CSIC
- CDTI Innovation. Mar Arjona. Directorate of Evaluation and Technological Cooperation
- INFO Murcia. Inmaculada Espinosa. Department of Business Innovation
- CAJAMAR INNOVA. Juan Carlos Gázquez. Deputy Director CAJAMAR INNOVA
- BIOVEGEN. Gonzaga Ruiz de Gauna. Manager
- 14:15 h. Conclusions
- 14:30 h. Closure and end of the day