Grupo Agrotecnología and the French research station Serfel, specialised in arboriculture and fruit growing, are working in partnership for the development of practices allowing for "zero-waste" in fruits and vegetables for human consumption.
Their first meeting was held in 2009 at Serfel's headquarters. The first tests with Grupo Agrotecnología took place at the firm Doux Pêcher, in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Serfel was invited to attend these tests on zero-waste handling of peach and apricot orchards. In 2010, Serfel and Grupo Agrotecnología signed an agreement, still in force, for the testing under controlled conditions with these experimental peach orchards. The same year, Grupo Agrotecnología continued with its professional tests in partnership with the firms Doux Pêcher and Nectapêches, which receive technical advice from Philippe Blanc, director of Serfel's peach program.
The research station has a Sica status (Société d'Intérêt Collectif Agricole), and receives both public and private funding. Serfel's main activity is the research with apricot, peach, cherry and olive crops. The major research topics include: agronomic evaluation of new fruit varieties in irrigation and fertilisation, sustainable crop handling, establishment of phytosanitary treatment programs, organic agriculture handling and sustainable viticulture. Serfel's final objective is to train growers in the regions of Languedoc-Roussillon (department of Gard and Hérault) and Provenza (department if Bouches du Rhône and Vaucluse). Specific results are published at a national level.
Source: Interempresas