a project to join

The Plant Production research group at the University of Messina (Italy) works on sustainable and resource-efficient Mediterranean cropping systems, with expertise in soil–plant–water relations, water-use efficiency, irrigation and fertigation management, greenhouse and soilless cultivation, and crop responses to water and nutrient availability.
Our research combines field and controlled-environment experiments to assess agronomic performance, resource-use efficiency and environmental sustainability. The group is currently involved in international R&I projects, including the PRIMA-funded Sun2Fork project on sustainable greenhouse farming, smart irrigation/fertigation, hydroponics, sustainable substrates and bio-based inputs.
Within Water4All, we can contribute to integrated monitoring of agricultural water use, sustainable irrigation, soil–plant–water interactions and agroecological approaches for resilient water management.

Keywords: water-use efficiency; sustainable irrigation; soil–plant–water relations; Mediterranean cropping systems.

Topic 1. Integrated Monitoring and Assessment for Sustainable Water Management
Topic 2. Nature-Based Approaches for Resilient Water Management at Hydrological and Hydrogeological System Scale

We are interested in joining a Water4All consortium addressing sustainable and resilient water management, particularly where agricultural systems represent an important component of the water cycle.
Our group can contribute agronomic expertise and experimental capacity to evaluate how innovative water-management strategies affect crop performance, water-use efficiency, nutrient use and overall system sustainability under Mediterranean conditions. We are particularly interested in projects integrating monitoring, modelling or decision-support approaches with field validation, as well as nature-based and agroecological solutions for improving water resilience.
We are looking to complement multidisciplinary consortia with expertise in hydrology, water quality, environmental monitoring, modelling, engineering or socio-economic assessment, contributing the agricultural and soil–plant perspective and supporting the validation of solutions under real or controlled cropping conditions.

water-use efficiency, sustainable irrigation, soil–plant–water relations, mediterranean cropping systems, irrigation management, fertigation, water resilience, resource-use efficiency, agroecological practices, climate-resilient agriculture

Prima project day, October, Barcelona (Spain)