CITA Presents Final Results of the AGROALNEXT Plan
The Aragón Center for Agricultural Research and Technology (CITA) participated in the national closing event of the AGROALNEXT Complementary Plan, held on November 7 at the Baluarte Congress Palace in Pamplona. The event brought together more than 200 attendees from research centers, public administrations, and national agri-food sector companies to present the results of over 250 research and development projects carried out in the last three years.
AGROALNEXT was a pioneering initiative in the digital and sustainable transformation of the Spanish agri-food sector, with a total investment of 49 million euros. Of this amount, 32 million were provided by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and University (MCIU) through NextGenEU funds, while 17 million came from the seven participating autonomous communities, including Aragón.
The plan mobilized more than 1,000 researchers across Spain and generated significant results: 25 registered patents, 255 scientific publications, 110 training activities (including 9 doctoral theses and nearly 100 undergraduate and master’s projects), and 185 transfer actions with companies in the sector. Additionally, two innovation hubs were created: EATEX Food Innovation Hub by CNTA (Navarre) and SERIDA-HUB (Asturias).
AGROALNEXT addressed seven major areas of action: sustainable primary production with the development of climate-resilient varieties; healthy, safe, and sustainable food; digitalization of the sector through artificial intelligence and remote sensing; circular economy with the valorization of agri-industrial biomass; scientific-technical infrastructures; creating a national biomass map; and public-private collaboration.
CITA led three key projects: BIODIVERSA, focused on sustainable agricultural systems through biodiversity management, with results in aromatic plants in mixed crops, evaluation of local germplasm, and natural bioherbicides; GANARAM, aimed at the prudent use of antibiotics in livestock and the prevention of antimicrobial resistance under a «One Health» approach, developing metagenomic analysis methodologies and promoting the Aragonese One Health Network (RAUS); and S.O.S.-Soil, focused on sustainable management of agricultural soil, producing a soil quality diagnostic guide and evaluating practices such as direct sowing and cover crops.
Pilar Errea, managing director of CITA, participated in a roundtable discussion on the impact of the plan in the autonomous communities alongside representatives from Navarre, Asturias, La Rioja, Murcia, Valencia, Extremadura, and the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and University. Also representing CITA were Ana Garcés-Claver (head of the Plant Science Department and responsible for BIODIVERSA), José Manuel Mirás (in charge of S.O.S.-Soil and currently a senior scientist at the Biological Mission of Galicia), and Jorge Hugo Calvo (research director at CITA, with the GANARAM project coordinated by Clara María Marín).
