Kick off meeting in Yangling marks the start of TUdi China

TUdi is excited to announce the official start of the Chinese partners’ work on the project with a kick off meeting last week, on 18 November 2022. Around 40 participants attended the event, which was held both online and in-person in the Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in Yangling, China. Although TUdi's Chinese partners have been engaged since the beginning of the project, the formal start of their participation will facilitate a closer engagement and interaction among the different teams.

Some of the tasks in front of TUdi’s Chinese partners include the development and evaluation of on-farm solutions for restoring degraded agricultural soils, as well as development of specific tools for sustainable management of fertiliser application, restoration of degraded soils by using vegetation, tillage, nutrient and organic matter management. Amongst others Chinese partners will raise public awareness on a national level of the importance of soil as a finite global resource.

TUdi’s European project coordinator Dr. José A. Gómez welcomed all attendees in the meeting, amongst whom were all team leaders and a number of stakeholders, amongst whom representatives of the Merrycall Biotechnology Co. Ltd, a company mainly engaged in apple planting, production, domestic and international sales in China.

The Chinese partners presented a detailed report on the project background, content, program and technical route, expected results and risks, after which all WP leaders reported on their respective tasks and implementation plans.

The vice-president of the Northwest A&F University (NWAFU) encouraged the participants to actively seek ways of managing soil resources, to promote scientific and technological innovation, cooperation, and exchange between China and EU and to effectively promote and improve the strategies, solutions and capabilities of both China and Europe in order to deal with ecological, environmental and food security.

This transnational exchange is key to the success of the project and will also contribute to initiatives like the EU Mission on Soil Health and Food and China Research Agenda for Agriculture.

Image: TUdi coordinator Dr. José A. Gómez welcomes the participants in the meeting