Slovenian researchers visit to discuss CropSustaIn progress

"There are many complementary skills at the James Hutton Institute and the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia; we look forward to continuing our productive collaboration

Researchers from the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (AIS) visited the James Hutton Institute as part of the CropSustaIn project, which looks into alternatives for sustainable crop production in Slovenia in the face of global change. The CropSustaIn project aligns research at AIS with complementary projects at other institutions across Europe.

Professor Andrej Simončič, Director of AIS and Dr Gregor Urek, CropSustaIn project coordinator, met with Hutton researchers at the Dundee site to share experiences in the fight for food security.

Professor Simončič explained that Slovenia’s geographic location makes it vulnerable to threats such as fungal diseases, weeds, viruses and pests, making cooperation and public awareness essential when dealing with these issues. Agriculture is particularly relevant to the Slovenian economy, as it accounts for almost 3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, employing 7% of the labour force and using 30% of available horticultural land.

Professor John Jones, a Nematology researcher in the Cell and Molecular Sciences research group, commented: “There are many complementary skills at the James Hutton Institute and AIS. We look forward to continuing our productive collaborations with researchers from the Slovenian team.”

Set under the principles of agriculture, efficiency, research and knowledge, the CropSustaIn initiative aims to help Slovenian farmers cope with and adapt to threats to food security, by strengthening research and development of new technologies for crop production at the AIS. It is funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

Besides the James Hutton Institute and the AIS, partners in the CropSustaIn project include Aarhus University (Denmark), Leibniz-Institut Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen (Germany), European Bioinformatics Institute, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (France) and the Julius Kuhn-Institut (Germany).