๐Š๐ข๐œ๐ค-๐จ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐Œ๐ž๐ž๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐„๐Ž๐๐€๐๐Ž๐๐ˆ๐Ž๐๐’ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐ž๐œ๐ญ

Date

The official kick-off meeting of the ๐„๐Ž๐๐€๐๐Ž๐๐ˆ๐Ž๐๐’ project (โ€œ๐„๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐Ž๐ข๐ฅ-๐๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ ๐๐ž๐ฑ๐ญ ๐†๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐š๐ง๐จ-๐๐ข๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐’๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ง๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐„๐œ๐จ-๐…๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐€๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐žโ€) was convened online on 30 July 2025, under the coordination of the ๐๐ข๐จ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐„๐ง๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐œ๐ก ๐‚๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ (๐๐„๐‘๐‚), the projectโ€™s lead partner. The event gathered partners from ๐๐š๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ž, ๐“๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐š, ๐†๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ž, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ˆ๐ญ๐š๐ฅ๐ฒ to initiate joint activities aimed at developing and scaling innovative essential oil (EO)-based nano-biopesticides for sustainable pest and disease management in tomato cultivation.

Funded by the ๐„๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐š๐ง ๐”๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ˆ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ซ๐ž๐  ๐๐„๐—๐“ ๐Œ๐„๐ƒ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž (๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿโ€“๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ•), the ๐„๐Ž๐๐€๐๐Ž๐๐ˆ๐Ž๐๐’ project seeks to advance eco-friendly agriculture by selecting, profiling, and encapsulating bioactive essential oils into innovative nano-formulations. These formulations will undergo testing, scale-up, and pre-commercialization phases, ultimately reducing reliance on synthetic chemical pesticides in Mediterranean greenhouse systems.

The meeting opened with welcoming remarks and a project overview by ๐๐ซ๐จ๐Ÿ. ๐Œ๐จ๐ก๐š๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐’. ๐’๐ก๐ญ๐š๐ฒ๐ž๐ก (๐๐„๐‘๐‚) Representatives of the Joint Secretariat then outlined key aspects of project support and requirements:

โ€ข ๐Œ๐ซ. ๐…๐š๐›๐ซ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐จ ๐๐š๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ข (๐‚๐จ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐š๐ญ๐จ๐ซ): General project assistance.

โ€ข ๐ƒ๐ซ. ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ซ๐š๐Ÿ ๐Œโ€™๐‘๐š๐›๐ž๐ญ: Project management and monitoring.

โ€ข ๐Œ๐ซ. ๐…๐š๐ฒ๐œฬง๐š๐ฅ ๐’๐š๐ก๐ซ๐š๐จ๐ฎ๐ข: Financial management.

โ€ข ๐Œ๐ฌ. ๐๐š๐ฌ๐œ๐š๐ฅ๐ž ๐€๐ฌ๐ฌ๐š๐š๐: Communication and visibility guidelines.

Technical presentations followed, led by ๐๐ซ๐จ๐Ÿ. ๐’๐ก๐ญ๐š๐ฒ๐ž๐ก who introduced the projectโ€™s core work packages: WP3: EO Selection, Profiling & Bioactivity โ€“ led by BERC; WP4: Development of Innovative Nano-Formulations โ€“ led by UNICT and NTUA; WP5: Scale-Up Production and Commercialization โ€“ led by CONNECT INNOV.

Partner interventions highlighted the consortiumโ€™s diverse expertise:

โ€ข ๐๐ซ๐จ๐Ÿ. ๐’๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ ๐“๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข (๐‚๐๐’, ๐“๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐š): EO selection, extraction, and phytochemical profiling for tomato pest and disease control.

โ€ข ๐๐ซ๐จ๐Ÿ. ๐ƒ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ ๐๐ž๐ซ๐๐ข๐ค๐ข๐ฌ (๐€๐”๐€, ๐†๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ž): Bioassays and evaluation of synergistic effects of EOs in integrated pest management.

โ€ข ๐๐ซ๐จ๐Ÿ. ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ง๐ช๐ž๐ณ ๐’๐ก๐ญ๐š๐ฒ๐š (๐€๐๐๐”, ๐๐š๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ž): Tomato pest and disease status in the West Bank and opportunities for EO-based eco-friendly management.

โ€ข ๐๐ซ๐จ๐Ÿ. ๐’๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐š ๐‘๐ข๐ž๐ฅ๐š (๐”๐๐ˆ๐‚๐“, ๐ˆ๐ญ๐š๐ฅ๐ฒ) & ๐๐ซ๐จ๐Ÿ. ๐€๐ง๐š๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ฌ๐ข๐š ๐ƒ๐ž๐ญ๐ฌ๐ข (๐๐“๐”๐€, ๐†๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐œ๐ž): Nano-encapsulation systems โ€“ design, carriers, and optimization.

โ€ข ๐ƒ๐ซ. ๐–๐š๐Ÿ๐š ๐โ€™๐œ๐ก๐ข๐ซ (๐‚๐Ž๐๐๐„๐‚๐“ ๐ˆ๐๐๐Ž๐•, ๐“๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐š): Commercialization and regulatory pathways for EO-based nano-biopesticides in the Mediterranean region.

๐ƒ๐ซ. ๐‘๐š๐ง๐š ๐‰๐š๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ (๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐ž๐œ๐ญ ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ-๐๐„๐‘๐‚) presented the timeline and milestones for the first semester, which was followed by an open discussion among partners on coordination, responsibilities, and next steps.

The meeting concluded with a synthesis by ๐๐ซ๐จ๐Ÿ. ๐’๐ก๐ญ๐š๐ฒ๐ž๐ก who emphasized the importance of collaborative effort to ensure scientific excellence, effective implementation, and tangible impact on advancing sustainable agriculture in the Mediterranean.