The 4CE-MED project brings together the national panel in Spain to evaluate the Camelina trials.
Partners of the European 4CE-MED project held the second meeting of the Spanish national panel on 14th September 2021, which brought together representatives of Agri-food Cooperatives of Spain, Camelina Company Spain (CCE), Agrovegetal, IMIDRA (Madrid Institute for Rural, Agricultural and Food Research and Development), INTIA (Navarre Institute of Agri-food Technologies and Infrastructures), AEAC. SV (Spanish Association of Conservation Agriculture. Living Soils) and was also attended by the cooperatives AN, ACOR, Alcamancha, San José de Sádaba and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA).
The aim of the meeting was to evaluate the development of the actions of the 4CE-MED project in Spain, where progress is being made and to analyse where it is necessary to direct greater efforts. In this sense, Camelina Company first defined the main milestones of the trials at European level in terms of identifying varieties, establishing cultivation protocols and defining harvesting strategies adapted to the different systems specifically designed for the climatic conditions of each country, as well as the characteristics of each of these systems.
Once the context was established, the results of the first 4CE-MED trial campaign in Spain, obtained on the Entresierras farm (Ciudad Real, Junta de Castilla-La Mancha), were presented. On the one hand, with regard to the identification of the optimum varieties, data on emergence, development of the plant cover, yields, lodging, height, degrees necessary to reach flowering and incidence of diseases were shown for each of the varieties and on two different sowing dates. On the other hand, with regard to the cultivation protocols, Camelina Company showed comparisons of the previously referred data based on the use of different tillage strategies, dates and sowing doses for the “ALBA” variety. Finally, the necessary harvest adjustments for loss reduction were shown. At the next meeting of the panel, the results obtained at the El Encín farm (Alcalá de Henares, IMIDRA), which have not yet been analysed, will be presented.
The national diagnosis on camelina and conservation agriculture developed by the 4CE-MED partners in Spain was also presented and validated with the panel members, followed by a debate.
For their part, AEAC.SV highlighted their high interest in this crop, which can be a very good alternative to cereal monoculture in rainfed areas, and made a general assessment of the application of the principles of Conservation Agriculture in the cultivation of Camelina.
On the other hand, in the framework of the MAGIC project – in which Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España also participates – the national 4CE-MED panel members were consulted on the main challenges facing biomass on marginal lands, addressing issues related to land use, supply, conversion and final use. The MAGIC project aims to promote the sustainable development of resource-efficient and profitable industrial crops on marginal lands.
SPANISH PANEL