BORAGE Operational Group: Obtaining quality borage plant material and optimizing new tools
- Type Operational group
- Status In progress
- Execution 2023 -2026
- Assigned Budget 150.000,00 €
- Scope Autonómico
- Autonomous community Aragón
- Main source of financing PEPAC 2023-2027
This project seeks practical solutions to the problems affecting borage crops in Aragon, with a direct focus on improving production and profitability for farmers and producers. Here are the most important points in a simple way:
- Quality seed: We're working to breed borage seeds that are more disease-resistant. This means your crops will have fewer problems and will be able to produce more.
- Optimized solarization: We seek to make the solarization technique more effective in disinfecting soils by advancing its application to the months of May/June. This will allow for more crop cycles per year with fewer fungal problems.
- New tools against diseases: We are testing new products and methods to combat fungi that attack borage, such as Fusarium. This will help you better protect your crops and reduce losses.
The project focuses on three main activities to improve borage cultivation in Aragon:
- Mass selection of borage and production of quality seed, evaluating its resistance to Fusarium oxysporum. This activity includes the sowing, production, and harvesting of quality borage plant material in Añón del Moncayo and Zaragoza, using lines selected from a previous project. Trials will also be conducted to identify and control Fusarium in the seed obtained, including disinfection through thermotherapy and other methods.
- Solarization optimization and disease prevention techniques. Data will be collected on growers' management history, and different solarization dates will be compared to determine the optimal timing and number of infection-free crop cycles. The solarization technique involves soil disinfection and pathogen control by covering moist soil with clear plastic during the warmer months to increase soil temperature through solar radiation.
- Establishment of an updated toolkit against major fungal pathogens such as Fusarium, powdery mildew, Botrytis, Sclerotinia, and Entyloma. This activity includes technological monitoring to identify new tools and solutions for pathogen control. Trials will be conducted with different tools and methods, focusing on soil, seedbeds, and plants.
The project is part of the context of borage production in Aragon, specifically in the main production area, which includes the municipalities of Villamayor de Gállego and Zaragoza. This area has experienced a drastic decline in productivity over the last four years. The main problem is the incidence of fungal diseases, especially Fusarium oxysporum, which causes wilting and root rot in the plants. This project arises as a response to this situation, seeking to improve the sustainability and profitability of borage cultivation in Aragon. Borage producers have experienced declines in productivity of between 20 and 80%, which has jeopardized the viability of the crop. Given this problem, the project proposes a comprehensive solution, addressing the problems from different angles: seed quality, soil disinfection techniques, and the development of new tools for pathogen control.
The initiative is carried out through a consortium that includes major borage producers, a gardeners' association, a cooperative, and technology centers. This consortium seeks to transfer the project's knowledge and results to the entire sector. The project also has a clear focus on innovation and technical quality, proposing innovative solutions in the selection of plant material, optimization of solarization techniques, and the development of new tools for disease control. The objective is to develop at least one line of quality plant material that demonstrates resistance to Fusarium, optimize the solarization technique to make it more effective in disease control, and identify an updated set of tools to combat the main pathogens affecting the crop.
The main objective is to obtain quality borage plant material and optimize new tools for controlling Fusarium and other pathogens affecting the crop. The project seeks to improve borage productivity, gain competitive advantages, and contribute to the crop's sustainability. It has three main objectives: mass selection of borage and production of quality seed; optimization of solarization and disease prevention techniques; and the development of a range of tools to combat the main fungal pathogens.
These are the key results expected:
- Obtaining quality borage plant material: It is expected to obtain at least one line of quality borage plant material, which will be evaluated for its resistance to Fusarium oxysporum.
- Optimization of the solarization technique: The project seeks to optimize the solarization technique, bringing forward its implementation date to May/June, to increase the number of annual crop cycles free of fungal diseases.
- Development of updated tools against pathogens: The goal is to develop an updated set of tools to combat the main pathogenic fungi that affect borage.
- Increased productivity and profitability.
- Improved product availability.
- Environmental Sustainability: The project will promote efficient management of natural resources, making the use of seeds and pesticides more efficient.
- Name of the coordinator/entity: Aragon Foundation for Innovation and Agri-Food Transfer
- Postal address: Avda. Montañana, 930 • 50059 Zaragoza - SPAIN
- Coordinator/entity email: info@fita-aragon.es
- Telephone: 976 716 189
- Fundación de Innovación y Transferencia Agroalimentaria de Aragón
- ANA OLMOS, S.L. (anita198770@hotmail.com)
- Gil & Pallares S.L.U. (javier@gilypallares.com)
- HNOS MENE SAT 6664 (hermanosmene@hermanosmene.com)
- VIVEROS FLORES AZNAR, S.L. (ernesto@viverosfloresaznar.com)
- Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA)(info@cita-aragon.es)
- Fundación de Innovación y Transferencia Agroalimentaria de Aragón
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