Promoting smart farming for Greek Crimson seedless growers

Four teams of Crimson Seedless producers are being organized under the SNF project into a smart farming community, supported with weather stations and sensors and receiving both on-site and distant agronomic consultancy services by AFS, in this case acting as a digital innovation hub. The purpose of the community is to further improve the quality of Greek Crimson by facilitating the adoption of efficient and environmentally sustainable agricultural practices.

This farmer community is hosting faculty and students of the technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, as well as from the European universities participating in the NextFood consortium, in order to facilitate a two-way transfer of knowledge.

"The American Farm School (AFS) is a century old educational institute specialised in the agrofood sector. In modern terminology, it is a boundary organisation, both producing its own high value added dairy and poultry products, and engaging in training and consultancy. As such, it functions as an innovation facilitator, bringing to farmers cutting edge scientific know-how and communicating their needs to research organisations," shared Philippos Papadopoulos Ph.D.

"AFS is channeling to Greek farmer groups the benefits of two large projects; Recharging the Greek Youth is a long term consultancy project financed by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) and aiming to stem the brain drain caused by the economic downturn by supporting new and prospective farmers. The project is coordinated by Rutgers University (New Jersey, USA) and NextFood, a Horizon research project financed by the European Commission, aiming to bring together European farmers, field professionals, universities and students, with a view to affecting a paradigm shift in university learning methodologies and creating graduate who will possess the soft and hard skills necessary to collaborate effectively with farmers."

The combined ambition of the two projects, as applied in the Greek Crimson case, is to create a multilayered community of learning and practice that is the source of top quality, environmentally friendly table grapes, produced by economically sustainable framer groups who have continuous access to scientific advice. Such communities will in the future act as the incubators of the next generation of educated farmers and field trained agronomists.

For more information:
Philippos Papadopoulos Ph.D
American Farm School
Τel: +30 2310-492855
Fax: +30 2310-492815
Email: fpapad@afs.edu.gr
www.afs.edu.gr