The second B2B event on multifunctional olive systems organized by the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) of Jordan, the Regional Forestry Agency for Land and Environment of Sardinia (Fo.Re.S.T.A.S.) and the LIVINGAGRO project, was successfully concluded on Tuesday, March 14th in Amman, Jordan.

The event, which was attended by representatives of research and technological institutions, academics, farmers’ cooperatives, politicians and entrepreneurs from the olive and olive oil sector, was a unique opportunity to bring to the fore the rising importance of agroforestry in olive groves, to open the dialogue on advanced technology in olive cultivation and to find new business partners who are active in the Mediterranean countries.

NEUROPUBLIC could not be absent from the interesting conference, which, in the context of highlighting the quality characteristics of olive products through the adoption of new technologies, pioneers with products and services specially designed for the olive grower, wherever he is.

In fact, Vassilis Pyrgiotis, Head of Co-funded Projects at NEUROPUBLIC, spoke about the company’s innovative smart farming system gaiasense, which aims to implement and utilize best practices in order to reduce inputs and production costs, improve the product produced and protect the environment through the rational use of natural resources and minimize the carbon footprint.

Apart from the potential of gaiasense against olive pests and the particular challenges of our time, such as climate change, Mr. Pyrgiotis also referred to the EU co-funded LIFE GAIA Sense project and presented the results obtained during the project.

In particular, the application of smart farming was analysed in 18 regions in Greece, Spain and Portugal and on nine types of crops, including the olive sector. The “verdict” was impressive: after the adoption of smart farming advice by NEUROPUBLIC’s gaiasense system, a 20.23% drop in irrigation costs was achieved, on average, reaching 33.76% in some cases. In addition, there was an average reduction of 21.89% in fertilization costs, which in some cases reached 40.84%. At the same time, there was also a significant reduction of 33.72% in the cost of pesticides against specific crop pests and diseases, while in terms of energy consumption costs, the average was -20.18%. Finally, thanks to smart farming practices, there was an improved nitrogen use efficiency of up to 30% depending on the crop, which led to improved air quality and less environmental pollution.

At the same time, Mr. Pyrgiotis presented two more projects coordinated by GAIA EPICHEIREIN, Ploutos and QuantiFarm, which aim to achieve a more sustainable agriculture through technological solutions such as the gaiasense system that has a key role in their pilot applications.

The event included a panel of distinguished speakers, among others, and gave participants the opportunity to coordinate face-to-face business meetings with institutions and companies, as well as LIVINGAGRO representatives, in order to ask questions, receive clarifications and engage in more in-depth discussions with experts.