More than 150 professionals participated in the CEBAS-Companies Conference "Science and Technology at the Service of Agriculture"

The CEBAS (Spanish Agricultural Research Institute) in Murcia held a conference with companies from the region to discuss new technological proposals for agricultural use. This conference, organized in collaboration with the biotechnology association BIOVEGEN and Cajamar, was attended by more than 150 attendees from 30 biotechnology companies and various research centers.

The conference was presented by Pedro Martínez Gómez, director of CEBAS-CSIC; Jesús López, Cajamar representative in Murcia; and José Pellicer, president of BIOVEGEN. BIOVEGEN is a public-private partnership, led by the business sector, that brings together entities from the agri-food sector interested in plant innovation, such as plant breeders, plant fertilizer and nutrition companies, agrobiotechnology and R&D management companies, and public research organizations.

At the conference, various CEBAS researchers presented a broad catalog of technologies available for use in agriculture, such as biostimulants that target proteins involved in mineral nutrition in crops and new strategies for evaluating crop adaptation to challenging environments based on the natural intelligence of pollinators. In addition, new tools were presented for evaluating the soil microbiome, the CEBAS crop service. in vitro and the production of edited plants and the AI-based CEBAS platform for mass phenotyping of plants. Finally, the center's work on identifying virus resistance targets in plants was described.

On the other hand, various companies from Murcia participated, such as FITOSOIL, located in Alcantarilla, a leading laboratory in agri-food and environmental analysis; PROBELTE, with its operations center in Molina de Segura, which presented Agronova Biotech's technological developments for sustainable agriculture; MICROGAIA, a CEBAS spin-off based in the Murcia Science Park, which presented its microbiological solutions for soil and plants; LUCAS BIOTECH, a Cieza-based company, presented its biotechnological products that transform and nourish soil and plants; and ABIOPEP, another CEBAS spin-off located in the Science Park, which spoke about technological solutions in plant health. Finally, a technician from the Alhama-based company GENOMA LAB presented its biotechnological solutions applied to agriculture; and the Almería-based company BEYOND SEEDS BIOTECH, a specialist in crop genetic improvement. The day concluded with a roundtable discussion on financing and accelerating agrobiotechnology projects in the Region of Murcia, attended by representatives from CDTI Innovación, INFO Murcia, and CAJAMAR INNOVA.

Program

• 9:00 a.m. Reception of attendees
• 9:30 a.m. Opening of the Day
  • Pedro Martinez. Director CEBAS-CSIC
  • Jesus Lopez. Director of Institutional Relations at Cajamar in Murcia
  • José Pellicer. President BIOVEGEN
• 9:45 a.m. Presentation of the technological capabilities of CEBAS-CSIC
  • Pedro Martinez. Director CEBAS-CSIC

• 10:00 a.m. Block I RESOURCES: Sustainability of existing water and soil resources. Moderator: Gonzaga Ruiz de Gauna. BIOVEGEN
  • Evaluation of the effect of biostimulants on proteins involved in the mineral nutrition of crops
    • Manuel Nieves. Senior Scientist at CEBAS-CSIC

• Natural Intelligence for Crop Adaptation to Challenging Environments
  • Angela Sanchez. Researcher hired for the CEBAS-CSIC project

• FITOSOIL: leading laboratory in agri-food and environmental analysis
  • Miguel Ángel Sarrión. Technical Manager of Physics and Chemistry

• PROBELTE: From the Lab to the Field: Biotechnology R&D at Agronova Biotech for Sustainable Agriculture 
  • Antonio Bernal. Chief R&D Officer

• 10:45 a.m. Block II: Nutrition and Health: Plant Nutrition and Soil Health. Moderator: Carlos Baixauli. CAJAMAR
  • Soil health: importance of the soil microbiome and approaches for its study
    • Felipe Bastida. Scientific researcher CEBAS-CSIC
  • MICROGAIA: microbiological solutions for soil and plants
    • Christopher Sanchez. Director

• LUCAS BIOTECH: biotechnological products that transform and nourish
  • Javier Lucas. Manager
• 11:30 a.m. Networking cafe
• 12:15 p.m. Block III: Plant Biotechnology Applied to Plant Pathology, Plant Breeding, and Stress Biology. Moderator: David Lapuente. BIOVEGEN
  • Biotechnological improvement: cultivation in vitro and obtaining edited plants
    • Nuria Alburquerque. Scientific researcher CEBAS-CSIC

• Fruit Breeding 4.0: Revolutionizing Fruit Breeding with AI and Phenomics
  • Pedro José Martínez. Senior Scientist at CEBAS-CSIC

• Identification of virus resistance targets
  • Manuel Miras. Ramón y Cajal Postdoctoral Researcher CEBAS-CSIC

• ABIOPEP: technological solutions in plant health
  • Yolanda Hernando. Managing director

• GENOMA LAB: applied biotechnology for agriculture
  • José Manuel Lucas. CEO and founding partner

• BEYOND SEEDS BIOTECH GROUP: Genetic sovereignty: a new model for creating value for producers and marketers
  • Edgar Garcia. Head of the genetic improvement area

• 1:15 p.m. Roundtable "Financing and Acceleration of Agrobiotechnology Projects in the Region of Murcia". Moderator: Carlos Garcia. CEBAS-CSIC
  • CDTI Innovation. Mar Arjona. Directorate of Evaluation and Technological Cooperation
  • INFO Murcia. Inmaculada Espinosa. Department of Business Innovation
  • CAJAMAR INNOVA. Juan Carlos Gázquez. Deputy Director CAJAMAR INNOVA
  • BIOVEGEN. Gonzaga Ruiz de Gauna. Manager

• 2:15 p.m. Conclusions
• 2:30 p.m. Closing ceremony and end of the day