As part of the completion of the project, the International Conference on Climate Change and Agriculture took place from 29/8 until 02/09/2017, at the premises of the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute (MAIC), in Agrokkipi, entitled ” Changes in agriculture from climate change “and participation was free of registration fees. The conference was organized by the Institute of Olive, Subtropical Plants and Vine – ELGO “DIMITRA”, in collaboration with the Technical University of Crete, the TEI of Crete and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania.
The oLIVE CLIMA with the title “Introduction of new oLIVE crop management practices focused on CLIMAte change mitigation and adaptation” is a five year project. It was launched in October 2012 and will be completed in September 2017. The project part funded (50%) by the financial instrument Life + of the European Union is an effort to guide the agricultural sector in order to face these challenges by converting olive cultivation to a climate change management tool.. The partners participating in the project implementation are the following: Development Agency of Eastern Thessaloniki’s Local Authorities “ANATOLIKI S.A.”, Institute for Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticulture “IOSV”, Department of Soil Science of Athens “DSSA”, Soil and Water Resources Institute – Former Land Reclamation Institute (LRI), University of Basilicata, Italy – Department of European and Mediterranean Culture (DICEM), Rodax Agro E.P.E. (RODAX), AGROTYPOS S.A., A.S. NILAEUS – Agricultural Olive oil Cooperative, Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Peza of Iraklion Pref. Crete S.A., Agricultural Cooperative Partnership Mirabello Union S.A..
The topics developed at the conference were as follows:
- Crop management for climate change mitigation and adaptation
- Natural resources conservation
- GIS and remote sensing
- Environmental certification
The conference was attended by project partners and distinguished academics as keynote speakers (Professor Cristos Xylogiannis, University of Bologna-Italy, Professor Luuk Fleskens, Soil Physics and Land Management Group of Wageningen University-Holland, and School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds-UK, Professor Mauro Centritto, National Research Council-Italy, George Michalopoulos, RodaxAgro-Greece, Dr Michalis Omirou, Dr. Nana Kabbadia, Dr Ioannis Ioannidis, Institute of Agricultural Reserch-Cyprus) as well as other scientists from 28 countries. It was a great opportunity to present relevant work, networking between researchers and groups dealing with related issues, and information on scientific and technological developments, similar practices, new policies and market issues.
“Agrotypos” S.A., which is a partner of the project, is also one of the conference sponsors. Mr. George Koumpouris, Coordinator of the Conference, informed “Agrotypos” about the main conclusions of the conference. Cultivations respond much better to climate change when soil is enriched with organic matter, as the plant gains more stable fertility, health and durability, and responds also better to extreme climatic phenomena. Specifically for the olive groves, this is achieved through the oLIVE-CLIMA cultivation practices, which tend to be adopted by a large percentage of farmers as they are advantageous not only for the environment but also for themselves. For example, frequent monitoring of a tree’s growth reduces interventions on an annual basis, so the tree maintains better balance and better manages the fertilizer and the water it receives. This will have a more stable production and, ultimately, a better financial result for the producer. The producer should be aware of the developments in the know-how and in cooperation with the local agronomist to improve its practices and achieve a better result.
Book of abstracts is available at the following link, http://www.climate2017.eu/docs/Climate2017_Book%20of%20abstracts_20170828.pdf. There are also in every abstract the contact information of the authors, so that someone interested in can communicate directly with them and gain closer cooperation and more detailed information.
For more information, please visit:
For the conference: http://www.climate2017.eu
For the oLIVE-CLIMA project: http://www.oliveclima.eu
For the LIFE programme: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/
