BIOFLORA TOMATO Operational Group: Biodiversity as an agroecological strategy for virus control in open-air cultivation of Huevo Toro tomatoes

The BIOFLORA project was born from the interest detected among producers, distributors, and consumers alike in promoting more sustainable and environmentally friendly crop management systems. This interest aligns with the philosophy underlying the European Green Deal, which establishes the European Biodiversity Strategy, which advocates for sustainable agricultural production systems based on biodiversity. It sets a goal of ensuring that at least 25% of the UAA is certified organic by 2030.

Our project will support outdoor tomato production systems, testing different strategies to reduce the incidence of viral infections in this outdoor crop through the use of flower bands associated with the crop and a biostimulant. This will address one of the major challenges facing this outdoor crop today, which is causing significant losses in the production sector and, in many cases, leading to the abandonment of this star crop during the summer.

This project aims to develop a composition proposal for floral bands adapted to the environmental and production conditions of outdoor tomato cultivation in the province of Malaga. It uses botanical species best adapted to the production environment and capable of supporting predators of the main vectors that transmit the viruses that affect this crop. This is combined with the application of a biostimulant that improves the crop's response to viral diseases and other potential plant diseases. The aim is to test a dual strategy that promotes ecosystem biodiversity and plant response capacity. Furthermore, the effects of chitosan on the incidence of viral diseases in tomato plants will be analyzed.