HR Smolice is one of the partners in the international project “PestSpace – Improving resilience to the spread of plant diseases via a regional Pest Common Data Space”, funded under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme. The project responds to the increasing threat of new crop pests and diseases resulting from climate change in the Baltic Sea region. Its main objective is to develop an innovative system for the rapid identification of pathogens and pests affecting agricultural crops.
The PestSpace project combines modern technologies such as DNA analysis, mobile image recognition, and machine learning methods. Farmers and advisors will be able to send photos of suspected symptoms or pests through a dedicated mobile application, while collected biological and visual data will be analysed and stored in a common database on the PlutoF platform. Based on these data, a decision support system will be created to provide early warnings and recommend effective crop protection measures.
The project is coordinated by University of Tartu. Other project partners include:
Research activities within the project focus on winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L. var. minor), two important crops widely grown in the Baltic Sea region. By improving monitoring, forecasting, and response systems, PestSpace will help strengthen the resilience of agriculture to emerging biological threats.
Participation in PestSpace reflects the company’s commitment to innovation, sustainable farming, and international cooperation in developing modern solutions for European agriculture.
