- The technical activities of the innovative project continue to progress after adapting to the current situation
- The members of GOCITRUS hold extraordinary virtual meetings to maintain the development of the project during the health crisis
The GOCITRUS Operational Group was established in 2018 with the aim of forming a group of experts to work on the identification and proper selection of citrus varieties as a basis for proper management and varietal and production planning. Currently, GOCITRUS is facing, in the second phase of the project, the objective of re-organizing and defining the varietal bases on which to support the citrus revolution that our productive and export sectors are heading towards, driven by the new market relationships.
This objective will be addressed through two main actions: a) The generation of an identification system based on the Citruseq genomic database, for which the authentication experience obtained to date will be generalized to the rest of the varieties and the possibility of establishing a varietal identification service supported by this genomic database will be studied. b) Assistance in decision-making for the producing sector in varietal selection, considering their particular cultivation characteristics and adaptation to each area, for which an APP will be created that includes the maximum existing information regarding current varieties and rootstocks. GOCITRUS has the participation of 8 Spanish entities, and its area of action directly involves 8 Spanish provinces.
Extraordinary meetings and adaptations to the health crisis:
Due to the state of alarm declared by Royal Decree 463/2020, of March 14, due to the health crisis of the coronavirus, the normal functioning of GOCITRUS was disrupted. However, to minimize the consequences of this situation, the members of the project have held extraordinary virtual meetings that have allowed them to adopt various measures to maintain the development of GOCITRUS activities and the continuity of the innovative project.
The first of these meetings took place on March 27 and was aimed exclusively at managing and reinforcing the dissemination actions of GOCITRUS, so that the current situation caused by COVID-19 does not hinder the dissemination of the results of the innovative project.
Subsequently, on March 31, an extraordinary meeting was held aimed at rescheduling the project activities and developing an explanatory document for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) providing detailed information about:
- Actions that cannot be carried out as initially planned but could be undertaken later, once the state of alarm has ended.
- Impact on the timeline in case actions cannot be executed in the 2020 execution period, but their possible execution is anticipated in 2021.
- Actions that cannot be carried out under any circumstances with no alternative to meet the project’s objectives.
On the other hand, on June 9, a meeting was held to draft a document requesting the Ministry for the necessary modifications and an extension of the execution period to adapt the project development to the current situation.
Once these variations on the original design of the project are implemented, GOCITRUS continues its development and is working to provide innovative tools to the citrus sector.
Progress of technical activities:
The technical activities related to the innovative project have also undergone adaptations to the current situation, allowing for its continuous development. Sample collection and DNA extraction have been maintained, enabling a first sequencing to take place in the summer of 2020. Additionally, work continues on the creation of the APP to assist in decision-making by sending cards with detailed information about the different varieties and rootstocks.
