Sharing experiences between projects with the joint aim of combatting potato pests and diseases

29 May 2026 By

On 29 May 2026, the NEM-EMERGE project coordinator Aska Goverse participated in a webinar held in the framework of the International Potato Day, entitled “From research to field. Sustainable solutions for potato health”. The objective of the webinar, which was joined by 50 participants, was to highlight complementary approaches developed by six EU-funded projects, namely POMATO, IPMorama, CROPSAFE, SAGROPIA, our sister project PataFEST, and NEM-EMERGE. “We had a fruitful conversation with complementary Horizon Europe projects to explore how we can contribute to improving potato health”, she stated.

These six projects have created a networking consortium, with the aim of exploring synergies and opportunities to share knowledge and learn from each other. All focus on potato health and sustainable crop protection, and this webinar was the first demonstration of this collaboration. In it, representatives of each project presented their main goals and the approaches they are using to address various pests and diseases affecting potato production. Although the threats they deal with differ from project to project, they share some common challenges that are making the problem harder, such as climate change.

All projects tried to find and define branches where they can meet or merge, such as the diagnostic area and the characterisation of population, which is common in all projects, a fundamental step in all initiatives aimed at combating a pathogen-based affection, or the prevention strategies that different projects are developing to elude infection.

The event not only focused on research and innovation but also on how emerging solutions can be applied in practice and support farmers, advisors, and other stakeholders in adopting more sustainable crop protection strategies. This bridges the gap between science and practical application. In this regard, Aska Goverse, one of the NEM-EMERGE coordinators, shared the work the project is doing together with stakeholders.