The Generalitat, through the Department of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, headed by Nuria Montes, is funding the development of a low-cost early warning system to identify the presence of the Botrytis cinerea fungus in vine crops even before the first signs of infection are observed.
This portable sensor, similar to those used for COVID-19 detection, will facilitate the fight against this pathogen, which causes bunch rot and considerably reduces crop yields and quality.
The project, called BotVid-SENSOR, is coordinated by the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), located at the University of Valencia Science Park (PCUV); in collaboration with the Mediterranean Agroforestry Institute (IAM), attached to the Polytechnic University of Valencia; the company ValGenetics, housed at the PCUV, and the Unió Llauradora i Ramadera.
The main objective of BotVid-SENSOR is the development of a portable system, which can be used in the field by non-specialized personnel, and which facilitates early, routine and low-cost detection of this fungus, which is responsible for one of the most damaging and widespread fungal diseases, known as 'gray rot'.
The initiative also has the financial backing of the Valencian Institute of Competitiveness and Innovation (IVACE+i) and funding from the European Union within the framework of the FEDER Comunitat Valenciana program for the period 2021-2027.
The main objective of BotVid-SENSOR is the development of a portable system, which can be used in the field by non-specialized personnel, and which facilitates early, routine and low-cost detection of this fungus, which is responsible for one of the most damaging and widespread fungal diseases, known as 'gray rot'.
The aim is to provide growers with a reliable tool to monitor the state of the vineyard in order to act against this pathogen even before the infection becomes visible on the plant. It is precisely in this initial phase when treatments are most effective, which in turn eliminates the possibility of unnecessary application.
Another advantage of this early warning technology is that it can increase the effectiveness of treatments with biocontrol agents and biostimulants, which translates into an increase in their competitiveness compared to synthetic phytosanitary products, both in terms of price and results.
In fact, the technical team working on this initiative sees it as an opportunity to expand the use of these sustainable disease control measures beyond organic viticulture farms.
Cooperation with promising results
This multidisciplinary consortium integrates all the agents necessary to meet this challenge, including end users, who are represented through the Unió Llauradora y Ramadera.
The research institutes I2SysBio and IAM provide the scientific knowledge necessary to combat this problem through the groups of Regulation mediated by non-coding RNAs and Phytopathogenic Fungi; while the business vision that will facilitate the adaptation and transfer of technology to the production system is provided by ValGenetics, a company specialized in the development of global strategies in health, genetics and plant breeding.
To date, not only have the most accurate markers of infection been identified, but the detection process in portable sensors from plant extracts has been optimized and a protocol for processing samples in the field has been designed. This technology has also been presented to groups of producers in order to obtain their opinions and suggestions for the incorporation of improvements or adaptation to their needs.
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