Europe allies in developing green pesticides against pests that threaten key crops

The project, named CropSafe and funded with European funds, has recently started under the coordination of the Phytopathology Research Group at the University of Alicante (UA), one of the most internationally relevant scientific departments in this field, led by Professor Luis Vicente López Llorca and also including Dr. and University Professor Federico López Moya. The challenge of CropSafe is to obtain bioactive materials with a low carbon footprint from biomass for application in the fight against pests in agriculture with the same effectiveness as those of chemical synthesis, a novel line of work in Spain but which falls within the sustainability and circular economy strategies promoted by the EU, whose legal framework is restricting or removing harmful pesticides from the market. Biomass has great value, although at present we largely waste it. The compounds or residues derived from industrial processes or agricultural activity itself have the potential to be used as ...