- The FITONET project kicks off, bringing together relevant Spanish companies and research centers to develop tools that allow the agri-food sector to enhance plant biodiversity
- The aim of FITONET is to establish a digital environment and living laboratories to enhance the phylogenetic resources of agricultural interest
- FITONET has been chosen as one of the most innovative projects in the 2022 OPERATIONAL GROUPS call, managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Current agricultural systems are increasingly characterized by using a limited number of plant varieties that, in many cases, have focused on boosting their productivity in an intensive agriculture system, with a strong environmental impact and unsustainable practices, conditioned by the demand for uniformity from major producers.
This uniformity and globalization of both production and market are partly responsible for the gradual abandonment of rural areas. Additionally, climate change is intensifying abiotic stresses, increasing episodes of drought and heat. If crops continue to be genetically uniform, a vulnerability may arise that will reduce their productivity, compromise their quality, and contribute to the abandonment of agricultural and forest lands that are currently profitable.
These new challenges will undoubtedly require better adaptation of crops to specific environments and new agroclimatic conditions (soil and climate), as well as the development of new technologies applied to agricultural production. The utilization of crop biodiversity will be key to broaden the narrow genetic base of currently cultivated varieties and the diversified development of new resilient and productive varieties that allow maintaining the profitability of agricultural systems while contributing to mitigating the effects of climate change.
Therefore, sustainable agricultural production is a strategic challenge in European, national, and regional research plans. Thus, within the framework of research projects, pre-improvement plant materials have been developed, which are conserved and in many cases documented, and will be of great use in broadening the genetic base of crops. The drawback is that this information is not centralized and standardized and has low visibility, greatly hindering access to these resources for developing new productive and sustainable plant varieties.
The FITONET Operational Group aims to establish the foundations for creating a dynamically professional social network focused on the use of phytogenetic resources where researchers, farmers, and the agri-food sector exchange knowledge and needs and collaborate in the process of recovering and/or generating new, quality, sustainable, and profitable crops and products.
The project is promoted and coordinated by the Cellbitec Foundation, and includes top-tier members such as the Higher Council for Scientific Research CSIC – through the PTI AGROFOR -, Bullsoft Solutions, the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers (UPA), Da Cunha Group (DACUNHA), the Creative Workshop, AGROSA, and the Cajamar Foundation. Within this innovative project, BIOVEGEN – Technological Platform for Plant Biotechnology will be responsible for coordinating the activities of valorization and dissemination.
Thus, FITONET aims to implement a information transfer system based on a wide network of collections with pre-breeding and breeding varieties, increasing the genetic diversity of crops to obtain better adapted and differentiated products, developing a dynamic professional social network, and generating living labs / pilot experiences that demonstrate to farmers, the agri-food sector, and society in general the importance of using biodiversity to obtain quality, sustainable, and profitable crops and products. This will facilitate access to phytogenetic resources and improved varieties, promoting greater involvement from farmers, associations, and companies.
FITONET was considered one of the most innovative projects presented in the 2022 call of the OPERATIONAL GROUPS program, being proposed for funding by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The FITONET Operational Group, endowed with a budget of 594,138.18 euros, is co-financed by the European Union at 80% from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and 20% from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, with the management authority responsible for implementing the aid being the Directorate General for Rural Development, Innovation, and Agro-food Training (DGDRIFA).
About Fundación Cellbitec
The Fundación Cellbitec originates from the biotechnology business project Beyond Seeds with the desire to enhance scientific research, talent management, and innovative capabilities in the life sciences. Likewise, the Fundación CELLBITEC collaborates with universities, public and private research centers, to generate new scientific knowledge and improve people’s lives.
About AGROFOR
The Interdisciplinary Agroforestry Thematic Platform is an initiative of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) composed of 35 research groups, aimed at optimizing agricultural and forestry systems, understood in terms of efficient management of plant genetic diversity through the recovery and utilization of biodiversity, reducing the impact of crops on the environment, and increasing sustainability, resilience, and profitability of agricultural and forestry production. Among the centers that are part of the PTI is the National Center for Plant Genetic Resources (CRF), which has the mission to contribute to the preservation and use of genetic diversity of cultivated species, varieties and native plant ecotypes, and obsolete cultivars and wild species, whose genetic potential is susceptible to being employed in research, improvement, training, and direct use in agriculture. Additionally, this project involves CSIC Institutes: the Biological Mission of Galicia (MBG), the Institute of Sustainable Agriculture (IAS), the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plants (IBMCP), and the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Salamanca (IRNASA). The PTI consists of 87 researchers, including specialists in genetics, plant improvement, conservation of natural resources, plant physiology, agronomy, entomology, biochemistry, and bioinformatics, whose resources and knowledge are made available to the sector to increase the effective use of the biodiversity of our crops.
About Bullsoft Solutions
Bullsoft Solutions S.L., a software company applied to biology and agriculture, specialized in the development of advanced solutions for the management, characterization, conservation, and exploitation of plant germplasm, the design, planning, and development of plant breeding programs and agronomic trials, known as NOAH; for the management of agricultural businesses through its field notebook; and for the comprehensive management of information in clinical laboratories and research in the life sciences area. To achieve this, in addition to developing proprietary solutions for both cloud and client/server environments, it has applied and integrated into its solutions: technologies for handling large volumes of data (Big Data), machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI & Machine Learning), and computer vision; traceability systems and process integrity through blockchains (Blockchain); and bioinformatics applications for the analysis of biological data.
About UPA
The Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers (UPA) is a Professional Agricultural Organization established under the provisions of Law 19/77, with its own legal personality, operating on a national level without profit motives. UPA has a federal structure and state scope, and it is organized territorially through autonomous regional organizations that it integrates. UPA has more than 80,000 members and, according to the resolution of the Subsecretariat for Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, UPA is recognized as the “most representative professional agricultural organization at the state level” in compliance with article 4.2 of Law 10/2009. UPA is part of the Economic and Social Council (CES) and participates in all forums for regional or national dialogue and representation in Spain. Likewise, UPA is a member of the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organizations of the European Union (COPA); it is present in the EU Economic and Social Committee (CES), is part of CEJA (European Council of Young Farmers), and is the first Spanish agricultural organization to be a member of the World Farmers’ Organization (WFO).
About DACUNHA
The Da Cunha Group was created in 1986 by a family of artisan bakers from Carral. In 1999, it inaugurated its current milling facility, which has five stone mills for producing flour from wheat, corn, rye, and whole grains. Today, Da Cunha Bakery, together with Fariñas Das Mariñas and Pereira Fidalgo Bakeries, forms the so-called Da Cunha Group, with 14 own establishments for the sale of flour, bread, pastries, confectionery, bakery products, and ice cream, establishing itself as a reference in Artisan Bakery in Northern Spain. Da Cunha sells Artisan Bakery products nationally. Within this range, they work with white corn bread, yellow corn, rye, and spelt, in addition to producing traditional confectionery products like larpeira or snail cake.
About The Creative Workshop
Always connected to the bakery, the company Bakery Brothers Fernández was founded in 1999 by Antonio Fernández in Córdoba. The second generation of bakers currently leading the company continues to produce bread artisanally and has become a national reference for the quality of their bread made with additive-free flour, long fermentations using natural sourdough. They are known for a wide variety of breads made with grains like hard wheat, soft wheat, oats, emmer wheat, rye, buckwheat, Tritordeum, etc. The company sells its products in its own stores and supplies high-end restaurants. They are currently expanding their business area under the brand Tres Hileras Bakery, offering exceptionally high-quality breads with 48 hours of fermentation, featuring small workshops at the same points of sale to achieve better quality, transparency, and closeness with their customers.
About AGROSA
AGROSA has a very solid position in the world of certified seed, offering a wide variety of products that meet the needs of each cultivation area. As a result of research into new lines and varieties, it currently offers a broad range of cereal, legume, oilseed, protein, forage, and cover crop varieties.
About Cajamar Foundation
Cajamar Foundation C.V. is located in Paiporta, where it has an experimental center that develops innovative experiences related to the agricultural sector with the ultimate goal of improving productivity and profitability of farms, as well as the applied technology and technical advancements.
About BIOVEGEN
BIOVEGEN – Technological Platform for Plant Biotechnology is a public-private association currently composed of 172 members (companies and research/technological centers) that work on plant innovation. The goal of BIOVEGEN is to promote R&D+i activities in collaboration with science and business, provide R&D management services, and facilitate the business development of its members through plant innovation. BIOVEGEN is supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
