Farmers and experts discuss ways of preventing soil degradation at a workshop in Spain

The TUdi coordination team CSIC together with AgriSat Iberia SL hosted an open field workshop for stakeholders on 8 February 2023  in Cuenca, Spain. The event took place in La Losa, near the Júcar river, a commercial farm compiling orchards, vineyards and arable land, and was attended by 42 participants from farmers associations (ASAJA, UPA), regional administrations (IFAPA), farm workers and independent farmers. The stakeholders came from different locations within Spain, including Andalucía, Castilla La Mancha and Madrid.

The workshop started with an introductory presentation explaining the mission and goals of TUdi, raising awareness of soil degradation, soil erosion consequences and the relevance of sustainable agricultural practices on soil physical, chemical and biological fertility to put farmers in touch with soil. This was followed by an open field demonstration of the construction of a little dyke in a growing rill in an almond plot. After that, the participants were given a tour at multiple sites in the farms, such as arable land under direct seeding and vineyards with temporary cover crops, while explaining the techniques and measuring some soil parameters such as moisture, soil respiration, penetration resistance, etc. 

Image: Open field demonstration of the construction of a little dyke in a growing rill in an almond plot

These activities were led by Vicente Bodas (AgriSat SL Iberia, responsible technician at La Losa farm), Llanos López (AgriSat SL Iberia) and José A. Gómez (CSIC). During the workshop several topics were discussed deeply, such as drought, soil management difficulties under particular conditions, cost and approaches in gullies' restoration, market prices of products and inputs, soil relevance in the agricultural chain and need of supportive and easy tools to optimise their decision making.

Image: Participants in the stakeholder workshop