Biobest participated in the Agri-Innovation Summit 2019

22/07/2019 - Last month Soraya França, Biobest R&D team leader for Microbial Biopesticides, was invited to participate in the Agri-Innovation Summit 2019 (AIS 2019).

Held on 24-25 June at Lisieux − in Normandy, France − AIS 2019 was organised by the French Ministry for Agriculture and Food, the French regions network, the Region of Normandy, the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI) and the European Commission.

AIS 2019 − which brought together over 450 representatives from EIP-AGRI projects throughout Europe, as well as local stakeholders and experts − focussed on the contribution of EIP-AGRI for the transition of agricultural production to include more principles and practices of agroecology.

Plant health
“The summit workshops and field trip provided plenty of information sharing and networking opportunities,” says Soraya. “More than 100 projects from French and wider European networks − operational groups, multi-stakeholder projects and thematic networks - were selected from participants for a ‘poster presentation’ in the workshops.

“I was particularly interested in results from three thematic networks presented in the Plant Health workshop; DEPHY Ecophyto, supporting French farmers in the reduction of pesticide use; Elicitra, promoting plant protection through induced resistance (use of elicitors) and GIS PIClég, developing more sustainable vegetable production in France.  

“The meeting closed with a useful round table session entitled; ‘How to achieve successful sharing, co-creation and uptake of knowledge and innovation at all levels’.” The main findings from AIS 2019 results of workshops will be integrated in a final report to be made available on the EIP-AGRI website.

Sharing information
The success of EIP-AGRI depends on EIP-AGRI ambassadors: people who share EIP-AGRI information in their own networks. A mission for all participants, as ambassadors, is to support innovation efforts at their local level. As an EIP-AGRI ambassador, Soraya is convinced that collaboration and reliable information should be shared and promoted.

Launched in 2012, EIP-AGRI was set up to contribute to the EU’s 'Europe 2020' strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Employing an interactive innovation model, it brings together specific stakeholders − farmers, advisors, researchers, businesses and NGOs etc − to work together. Using an unprecedented, participatory multi-actor approach, EIP-AGRI aims to close the innovation gap between research and practice and is proving to be a real success story.