On 13 September, at the António Teixeira Experimental Station in Coruche, CONSULAI was present with the Horizon Europe NUTRI-CHECK NET project at the INOVMILHO (National Competence Centre for Maize and Sorghum Crops) field day, organized by ANPROMIS (National Association of Maize and Sorghum Producers). The event brought together the agricultural sector and had 300 participants, providing a space for sharing, with various stations in the maize fields, where the main technological innovations in maize productions were presented. This project, in which CONSULAI leads the communications and dissemination of the results and coordinates the Portuguese farmers’ network, aims to respond to one of the sector’s biggest challenges: increasing agricultural productivity while reducing the use of synthetic fertilisers and the loss of nutrients in maize, wheat, and potato crops.
During the morning, the participants had the opportunity to learn about the main technological innovations in maize production, touring various stations set up in the maize fields, and the results obtained in the internships implemented under INOVMILHO. At the end of the morning, participants were able to learn more about main technical constraints of maize production in Portugal from Ana Paula Garcia, sub-director of the DGAV (Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary). And what obligations and support maize production will have under the reprograming PEPAC (common agricultural policy strategic plan), with Eduardo Diniz, general director of the GPP (Office of Planning, Policies and General Administration).
The day was followed by a lunch for participants to share their experiences, ending with an afternoon of drone demonstrations.
Dina Lopes from CONSULAI presented NUTRI-CHECK NET project, funded by Horizon Europe programme, the main aim of which is to draw up an inventory of tools and solutions to optimise fertilization of wheat, maize, and potato crops in 10 European countries. Attendance at this field day was an added value, as it enabled the project to be disseminated to more and more farmers and agricultural advisors, and because it revealed the research being carried out on maize in Portugal, which could also provide solutions to the major challenge that NUTRI-CHECK NET aims to address.
Watch below somo photos of the field day:
