On March 9th, 2023, Cooperatives Agroalimentàries de la Comunitat Valenciana organized a Coordination Meeting for Horticulture at the Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research (IVIA). The meeting brought together specialists in the field of plant health in horticultural crops, who discussed the challenges faced by different crops and strategies to overcome them.

During the meeting, IVIA researchers Alberto Urbaneja and Meritxell Pérez-Hedo presented the PRIMA project “Agroecology-inspired Strategies and Tools to Enhance Resilience and Ecosystem Services in Tomato Crop ASTER.” The ASTER project aims to promote the implementation of agroecology strategies to improve tomato production and ensure its resilience to climate change. The project also aims to enhance ecosystem services in tomato cultivation, which will contribute to improving the quality of life for those working in production and protect the biodiversity of the area. The meeting also discussed potential collaborations between IVIA and Federació Cooperatives to further improve the results of the ASTER project.

The meeting concluded with a visit to the ongoing tomato pest control trials within the ASTER project at IVIA.