What we do
The main aim of the centre is to promote and carry out scientific activities, both basic and applied, in the field of modelling applied to plant health within the context of 'one health', a concept that defines the convergence and connections between human, animal, and environmental health (of which plants are a fundamental component).
The activities are primarily aimed at the development of smart decision support systems for sustainable agriculture, with a focus on sustainability and food safety, in the context of climate change. The sector encompasses all aspects of plant health, from the perspective of causal agents (e.g., modelling for pathogens and mycotoxin-producing fungi, pests, weeds, abiotic stresses), plants (e.g., growth and development models, damage mechanisms, and response to harmful organisms), and means of mitigation/protection (e.g., models for fungicides, biocontrol agents, resistance inducers, and all new solutions for plant health).
The centre’s area of interest also includes mathematical, statistical, and computational technologies for the development, calibration, and validation of models, as well as all aspects of monitoring the cropping environment for the acquisition of environmental data that feed the models, as well as advanced diagnostic tools for the early identification, diagnosis, and monitoring of disease agents.
