EETAC research group participates in a new project called Rice-Guard

The Instrumentation, Sensors and Interfaces (ISI) research group participates in the new project Rice-Guard funded under the 7th Framework Programme of the EU, in collaboration with IRIS (Spain) and DEMETER (Greece) for the research and technology development activities, and is responsible of the technical management of the project.

Rice-Guard aims at mitigating the effects of one of the most important threats of rice: a fungal disease capable of causing losses up to 100% of the harvest.

The project Rice-Guard, to be completed in 2016, will develop a wireless low-cost sensor network that will measure the actual conditions of risk of infection and pathogen propagation, thereby reducing the use of highly harmful fungicides. Rice farmers will have an effective system for the protection of their fields, hence increasing production volume and reducing the impact of the use of fungicides in the environment and food security.

The consortium comprises SMEs and SME associations, including Càmara Arrossera de Amposta (Spain), Agricultural Cooperative of Halastra B (Greece), Organizzazioni Produtttori Risicoli Sardi (Italy), Agrupamento de Produtores de Arroz LDA (Portugal), Federación de Arroceros de Sevilla, OSV (Italy) and LNL (Turkey).