Agremso3il expert group visits the Expoaguilas Farm, located in Águilas, Murcia (Spain)
The Life+ AgRemSO3IL project prototype was unveiled to its stakeholders.
The AgRemSO3il Stakeholder Platform held on May 25th 2021 the first field visit to Cuesta Mula (Águilas, Murcia), the pilot farm where the prototype is currently running in the second demonstration crop cycle. The stakeholder platform is a group of professional experts formed by 7 members representing farming companies and cooperatives (CDTA-El Mirador, demonstration centre for three farmer cooperatives, Expo-Aguilas Coop., Surinver, Bonduelle and Fruca), Consejo de Agricultura Ecológica de la Región de Murcia, and public administration (Sanidad Vegetal – Consejería de Agricultura of the Regional Government). This group enriches the view of the project consortium providing advantageous information for replicability and sustainability.
A first meeting took place through a video conference in April 2021 to present the Project objectives, methodology, on-going activities and current results. Then, a visit to the demo-farm allowed the stakeholders to experience the AgRenSO3il prototype “in situ”. The experts had the chance to observe and analyse how the combined ozonation and solarization treatment was being applied before the crop was planted: the soil is covered with polyethylene film and exposed to ozone between the film and soil surface and at depth of 10 cm from soil surface. Afterwards, along the cultivation cycle, ozone is supplied through the irrigation water. This technology allows the remarkable acceleration of the pesticide-residue remediation in the farm soils compared to the natural degradation processes.
Inside one of the greenhouses as stakeholders learn more about the AgRemSO3il treatment at the Expoaguilas farm
The active discussion revealed the interest awakened among the experts, who are aware of the environmental and commercial problems caused by the chemical residues in their soils. Many questions arose about the technical use of the AgRemSO3il methodology (treatment length, concentrations, etc.), and profitable comments about the prototype dimensions or its possibilities to be scaled-up and tested in other farm structures (crops or productive systems). A possible specific use of the system was underlined to ensure the absence of pesticides in agricultural soils: the transition period from conventional to organic farming could be reduced. The project consortium took good note of the legal implications of this approach, to be included in the foreseen document of governance recommendations.
A new meeting of the AGREMSOIL Stakeholder Platform will take place in 2022 to present and debate the results, considering the technical, environmental and economic dimensions of the innovation proposed by the LIFE project. The final documents and conference will consider and include the invaluable view of this expert group.
List of Attendees
| # | Stakeholders | Representatives |
| 1 | Bonduelle Spain | Miguel Moreno |
| 2 | Surinver El Grupo | Francisco Torró |
| 3 | Fruca Marketing | Fulgencio Wadi |
| 4 | CDTA El Mirador | Pedro Mínguez |
| 5 | Servicio Sanidad Vegetal CARM | Francisco J. González Zapater |
| 6 | Expo Águilas | Nicolás Piñero
Jose A. Martínez Carvajal Prudencio Navarro Francisco Navarro |
| 10 | ID Consortium | Macarena Sanz |
| 11 | Novedades Agrícolas | Andrés Sánchez, Salvador Sánchez |
| 13 | Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Alimentario (IMIDA) | Caridad Ros Ibáñez
Isabel Garrido Martín Carmen M. Martínez Escudero Fulgencio Contreras López |
