The AIR Institute coordinates the FARMS4CLIMATE project, which pursues modernization and economic growth through the promotion of carbon agroecological agriculture. To this end, it has the collaboration of partners in northern and southern Mediterranean countries, whose representatives attended the kick-off meeting held in Salamanca, coordinated by Juan Manuel Corchado, president of the AIR Institute. The following entities are part of the project:

  • Soluciones Agrícolas Ecoinnovadoras (SAE), España.
  • Fundación Commonland (AVA), España.
  • Università degli Studi della Basilicata (UNIBAS), Italia.
  • Agreenment srl (AGM), Italia.
  • Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC), Italia.
  • IFOAM AgriBioMediterraneo (IFOAM), Grecia.
  • Sekem for Land Reclamation (SEKEM), Egipto.
  • International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Líbano.
  • SQLI Services (SQLI), Túnez.
  • Institut National de Recherche en Génie Rural, Eaux et Forêts (IEF), Túnez.
  • Heliopolis University (HU), Egipto.

Over the next three years, funded by the PRIMA Foundation through the Horizon 2020 program, the project proposes a strategy for agricultural transformation through improvements in circular farming, crop rotation, carbon farming and digital tools. To ensure effectiveness and economic benefits, smallholder farmers and agricultural organizations are contacted to assess their specific needs.

Over the course of FARMS4CLIMATE, living labs or laboratories will be set up in different parts of the Mediterranean to be used as areas for demonstrating innovative farming techniques and obtaining feedback from farmers. In addition, technologies such as Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence will be used to predict how much fertilizer or other resources the farmer needs, as well as recommending sustainable agricultural practices and gender transformative approaches.

The ambitious goal pursued by the FARMS4CLIMATE project will result in a series of sustainable agriculture tools that can be extrapolated to generate a positive impact on agriculture in countries around the world.

Posted by Juan M. Corchado

Juan Manuel Corchado (15 May 1971, Salamanca, Spain) is Professor at the University of Salamanca. He has been Vice-Rector for Research from 2013 to 2017 and Director of the Science Park of the University of Salamanca. Elected as Dean of the Faculty of Science twice, he holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Salamanca and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of the West of Scotland. He leads the renowned BISITE (Bioinformatics, Intelligent Systems and Educational Technology) Research Group, created in 2000. Director of the IoT Digital Innovation Hub and President of the AIR Institute, J. M. Corchado is also Visiting Professor at the Osaka Institute of Technology since January 2015, Visiting Professor at the Universiti Malaysia Kelantan and Member of the Advisory Group on Online Terrorist Propaganda of the European Counter Terrorism Centre (EUROPOL). J. M. Corchado has been president of the IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society, and academic coordinator of the University Institute for Research in Art and Animation Technology at the University of Salamanca, as well as researcher at the Universities of Paisley (UK), Vigo (Spain) and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (UK). He currently combines all his activity with the direction of Master programmes in Security, Digital Animation, Mobile Telephony, Information Systems Management, Internet of Things, Social Media, 3D Design and Printing, Blockchain, Z System, Industry 4.0, Agile Project Management, and Smart Cities & Intelligent Buildings, at the University of Salamanca and his work as editor-in-chief of the journals ADCAIJ (Advances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal), OJCST (Oriental Journal of Computer Science and Technology) or Electronics MDPI (Computer Science & Engineering section). J. M. Corchado mainly works on projects related to Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, IoT, Fog Computing, Edge Computing, Smart Cities, Smart Grids and Sentiment Analysis. He has recently been included in the board of trustees of the AstraZeneca Foundation, along with other health professionals and researchers recognised for bringing scientific knowledge closer to society.

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