One of CEIGRAM’s objectives is to create a space to exchange and share technological and research results with the public sector and private actors, in order to continue advancing towards environmentally sustainable social and economic well-being.
Here we present the different areas of knowledge in which CEIGRAM carries out its scientific-technological offer. Within each area you will be able to consult a file that summarizes the content of each offer with the contact of the main researcher responsible for the offer. If you want general information about the scientific-technological offer or capacity of the research groups, get in touch with the Centre’s Research and Innovation Management Team.
In 2012, the European Commission proposed its first Bioeconomy strategy and action plan to facilitate the transition towards greater innovation, resource efficiency, and competitiveness. This proposal was renewed in 2018, with more emphasis on climate change mitigation strategies, developing a circular economy, and progressing towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Climate change has complex effects on the biophysical processes that support agricultural systems, with both negative and positive consequences in different EU regions. Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration, higher temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, and the frequency of extreme events are already influencing crop yields and livestock productivity in Europe, as well as water availability needed for irrigation and livestock, the processing of agricultural products, and transport and storage conditions.
The use of sensors in agriculture is a technology with great potential for monitoring nutritional and crop water status and facilitating decision making. The combination of nutritional and water-stress indices can improve the prediction of crop nutritional status, allowing the dose of fertilizer to be identified and applied. On the other hand, it is possible to monitor crop status using vegetation indices thanks to the development of analysis and modelling tools for big data from mobile phones, remote sensing, climate data, etc.
The search for more efficient and sustainable fertilizers is one of today’s industry challenges. A technological strategy consists in combining nitrogen sources with nitrification inhibiting substances; it is an added value if the origin is natural. Another challenge in the sector is to obtain new crop fertilizers with efficient micronutrients that are stable in the environment, therefore avoiding leaching losses or fast degradation.
Spain is a world power in the horticultural production of greenhouse crops. CEIGRAM offers different lines of collaboration with companies, researchers, and agents in the sector to achieve increased productivity of fruit and vegetable systems by introducing technologies to improve climate control, lighting, and CO2 in greenhouse production.
Spain is the world’s leading producer of olive oil and table olives. The respective productions represent about half of all world production of olive oil and around 21% of table olives. There must be a smooth transition from the traditional system of olive cultivation to the intensive and super-intensive systems, allowing small and medium olive farms to address their transformation with guarantees of success.
Agriculture, as an economic activity, directly depends on the natural environment, is vulnerable to different biological (pests and diseases) and climate-environmental (climate change, droughts, floods, etc.) phenomena. All this makes it necessary to apply a strategic approach to managing the risks inherent in this activity.
Spain has 13% of the world’s total vineyard area, making it the third-largest producer in the world, contributing around 1% to Spain’s GDP. We are the third-largest exporters in the world in value and are responsible for 25% of European wine production. We generate employment in the wineries, and the countryside, making it a key sector in the fight against rural depopulation.