MAGMA Research & Development

Sustainable crop protection through green products and smart agriculture

High throughput agriculture powered by chemical pesticides has been feeding us for decades. How to maintain this production to match our growing population despite plant pests and diseases that rapidly spread and develop resistance against the methods we have at hand, while also limiting the harmful effects of agrochemicals on human health and the environment? Innovation is key to overcoming this challenge. In this spirit, through academic and industrial collaborations, we contribute to the development of innovative, environment-friendly crop protection methods and products.

CypTox: Training next level scientists and researchers to develop highly selective and safe insecticides.
‍https://cyptox.eu/site/index.php
‍This EU-funded project brings together 17 partners from 9 countries to exploit a key insect metabolic pathway to develop novel insecticides that are highly selective and safe by design.

SAH: Smart Agro Hub
‍https://smartagrohub.gr/en/
‍This competence center formed by the partnership of Athens Agricultural University with 12 Greek companies aims to provide Greek agriculture with innovative products and services to facilitate its digitally aided move towards increased sustainability.

DaCuS: An alternative method for fighting Dacus by eliminating its bacterial symbionts
‍https://dacus.webflow.io
This collaboration between MAGMA, AUTH, IMBB/FORTH and two professional olive growers encompasses lab, semi-field, and field experiments for developing and optimizing a novel, insecticide-free method for olive fruit fly control based on the elimination of gut symbiotic bacteria, which this important pest needs for reproduction and development.
_{AUTH: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
IMBB/FORTH: Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas}

Resource-efficient animal feed and organic fertilisers made by insects

Our wasteful food system leaves 10% of our population undernourished. Every year, we waste 1 billion tons of food, which we produce and then dispose with significant environmental impacts. At the same time, we feed valuable protein sources such as soymeal, fishmeal, grains obtained through environmental degradation to farm animals. Why not instead upcycle nutrients from food waste to animal feed? Insects can help us do this.

Greece is ideal for socioeconomically and environmentally beneficial implementation of this EU-approved technology, due to masses of landfilled food waste and unused byproducts, large aquaculture and poultry/ swine farming sectors reliant on imported feed ingredients and a large agriculture sector dependent on mineral fertilizers. Within an intersectoral consortium covering key aspects such as entomology, waste management, feed safety, animal nutrition, and commercialization of insect products, we will adapt this green, circular technology to Greek conditions, implement it at pilot scale in Crete and make a case for insect-based business in Greece with dissemination and stakeholder engagement activities.

REENFORCE
EU Project

MAGMA AGRO S.A. is participating in REENFORCE: Strengthening human capital and increasing the excellence of widening - country organisations in R&I for bio-based, low-risk and smart crop protection. REENFORCE is an EU-funded project led by the Agricultural University of Athens with members from Greece, Portugal and Belgium. It aims to boost academic and industrial research institutions and researcher careers in Widening countries Greece and Portugal through cross-sectoral collaboration. These goals resonate with key policies with respect to EU green and digital transition as well as food and agriculture. The thematic focus of REENFORCE is sustainable crop protection with particular emphasis on bio-based solutions, low-risk pesticides, ecotoxicology assessment and smart spraying technologies. REENFORCE contributes to institutional and career progress as well as development and adoption of cutting edge agricultural best practices through secondments between the consortium partners. Currently, our colleague Amalia Anthousi, who has defended her PhD thesis only a few months ago, is undertaking her first secondment under the REENFORCE framework at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, within the Research Group of Soil Ecology & Ecotoxicology. During her four-month’s stay in Portugal, our colleague will receive hands-on training in soil ecotoxicology assessment of terrestrial compartments, biodiversity assessment in vineyards upon pesticides exposure and pesticide residue alanalysis in soil and animal tissue samples. Upon her return to MAGMA, Ms. Anthousi will continue her work on establishing an entomological bioassay laboratory within our R&D Department, incorporating the skills and knowledge gained during her secondment in this task. This secondment therefore is a prime example of how EU-funding, and particularly the WIDERA program opens new horizons for young researchers and innovation-oriented SMEs. High throughput agriculture powered by chemical pesticides has been feeding us for decades. How to maintain this production to match our growing population despite plant pests and diseases that rapidly spread and develop resistance against the methods we have at hand, while also limiting the harmful effects of agrochemicals on human health and the environment? Innovation is key to overcoming this challenge. In this spirit, through academic and industrial collaborations, we contribute to the development of innovative, environment-friendly crop protection methods and products.

REENFORCE: Strengthening human capital and increasing the excellence of widening - country organisations in R&I for bio-based, low-risk and smart crop protection.
‍https://www.reenforce.eu/
‍The REENFORCE project, coordinated by the Agricultural University of Athens, aims to foster long-term cross-sectoral collaboration and strengthen the research and innovation (R&I) capacity in the Widening countries of Greece and Portugal, with the support of the non-widening country of Belgium. Focusing on sustainable crop protection, the project addresses key topics such as bio-based and low-risk pesticides, ecotoxicology assessment, and smart spraying technologies.

Research and Development

We strive to contribute to the transition of the agri-food sector to green and sustainable practices through innovation.

Our department combines:

Sustainable crop protection through green products and smart agriculture

Resource-efficient animal feed and organic fertilisers made by insects

REENFORCE
EU Project

Contact us

Research and Development

We strive to contribute to the transition of the agri-food sector to green and sustainable practices through innovation.Our department combines:

Sustainable crop protection through green products and smart agriculture

Resource-efficient animal feed and organic fertilisers made by insects

REENFORCEEU Project

Contact us

We strive to contribute to the transition of the agri-food sector to green and sustainable practices through innovation.

Our department combines:

REENFORCE
EU Project