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ASTER

Agroecology-inspired Strategies and Tools to Enhance Resilience and ecosystem services in tomato crop
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Classification: 
international research
Programme: 
Other UE programmes
Call: 
PRIMA -Section 2 -Thematic Area 2: Farming systems -Multitopics
Main ERC field: 
Life Sciences
Unict role: 
Partner
Duration (months): 
36
Start date: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
End date: 
Friday, May 30, 2025
Total cost: 
€ 2.081.902,00
Unict cost: 
€ 180.500,00
Coordinator: 
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)
Principal investigator in Unict: 
Prof.ssa Lucia Zappalà
University department involved: 
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment
Participants: 
  • Università del Piemonte Orientale, Italy
  • Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
  • Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Spain
  • Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
  • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
  • Antonis Vezyroglou & SIA EE, Greece
  • Isparta Uygulamalı Bilimler Üniversitesi, Turkey
  • High Agronomic Institute of Chott-Mariem, Tunisia
  • National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia, Tunisia
  • University Badji Mokhtar – Annaba, Algeria
  • University M'Hamed Bougara of Boumerdes, Algeria
  • École Nationale d'Agriculture de Meknes, Morocco
  • University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Morocco

Abstract

The aim of ASTER is to build up a management model for small tomato producers of the Mediterranean Basin based on the application of main agroecology principles such as:

  • the protection (conservation) and the enhancement of functional biodiversity both above and belowground, to increase and exploit the ecosystem services (protection, nutrition, pollination) in alternative to the use of external synthetic inputs;
  • the sustainable control of main pests and pathogens to reduce the environmental impact of plant protection practices;
  • the circularity of the production chain to approach the “zero waste” objective.

The model will improve the resilience of this fundamental crop in the economy of all Mediterranean Basin countries where it can be grown in open field or in protected systems, during the entire annual season, particularly in small farms. Four specific objectives (SO) and relative ways to realize them have been identified: SO1 (WP1, WP6) Develop a two-way exchange of information between academic groups and stakeholders through an interactive platform; SO2 (WP2, WP3, WP4) Design field interventions to protect, enhance and exploit the functional biodiversity and plant defences for improving ecosystem services, resilience and sustainability; SO3 (WP5) Validate protocols for maximizing ecosystems services and resilience by considering their environmental, economic and social sustainability; SO4 (WP1, WP6): To ensure effective coordination, communication dissemination and formation. The results from this project will provide a model that can be extended to the sustainable production of other crops, in water-limited and non-water-limited socio-agro-ecosystems.