Europatat has become an active partner in the PATAFEST project, a new EU Horizon Europe project that aims to safeguard potato plants through pest spreading and resistance characterization, pre-harvest treatments, and post-harvest solutions.

PATAFEST was formally launched on June 20 and 21, 2023 in Madrid, Spain.

Potato is an important crop in Europe (EUR12.4bn in 2020). It is, however, subject to several pests and soilborne pathogen diseases. One of the most serious pests is produced by the bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CLso), which causes the disease of zebra chip (ZC). The presence of the vector psyllid Bactericera cockerelli (BC), which causes substantial harm in terms of yield losses and quality, is primarily responsible for the introduction of the CLso bacterium on potatoes. Potato post-harvest illnesses such as dry rot, black dot, and silver scurf are caused by soil-borne pathogens that can be found in the field as well as in storage. All of these possible hazards have the potential to cause severe economic and food losses in the potato business.

“To avoid these potential risks, the project PATAFEST will develop a unique approach to identify resistance genes in potato varieties against selected pests and pathogens to develop innovative strategies to control the spread of potato pests and reduce potato post-harvest diseases,” according to a recent Europatat press release.

More specifically, the study will characterize the ecological pest propagation pathway at the molecular level and identify potato disease resistance types against CLso and postharvest diseases. It will also deliver effective pre-harvest plant and soil treatments against CLso vector and soil-borne infections, as well as other cutting-edge digital technologies including image analysis tools (mobile app) and artificial intelligence predictive models. Finally, it will develop post-harvest technologies (biocontrol coating solution, controlled environment storage, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sensors) to reduce the incidence of soil pathogens and maintain the quality of stored potato tubers.

The PATAFEST consortium, managed by Funditec, is made up of 18 partners, including an international collaboration with Ecuador. The consortium convened in Madrid (Spain) on June 21 and 22, 2023, to officially launch the project, which will last through May 20, 2027. During the two-day conference, project partners presented their organizations and discussed and organized the initial tasks to be completed in the following months. Europatat’s purpose in PATAFEST will be to disseminate the project’s goals and outcomes, as well as to serve as a link between the research and EU policymakers.

The European Union is funding PATAFEST under the EU Horizon Europe program (project number 101084284), with a total budget of EUR6.09m.