The Climate Crops Centre hosted colleagues from the University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Prof. Dr. Vidrih Matej, Prof. Dr. Stanislav Trdan, and Mr. Alexander Bobnar. This gathering took place as part of the bilateral cooperation project between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Slovenia, “Invasive plants as potential bio-insecticides for controlling stored product pests” (the project funded by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation). The project is coordinated by Climate Crops member, Dr. Sonja Gvozdenac.
The aim of the project is to look into the development and implementation of new strategies for controlling seed pests as an adequate substitute for chemical control, which is one of the most significant challenges of pest management. Slovenian and Serbian partners have the capacity to answer this challenge due to well-developed research in the field of the application of environmentally friendly pest management strategies, including the use of botanical preparations. Given that both project teams are engaged in studies related to the control of storage pests, preparation of plant-based products, i.e. botanicals, and assessment of seed qualities, the idea is to organize and harmonize research methodologies, enhancing present methods of pest control by using botanicals originating from partner countries against the most important seed pests for each region.
