On the 15th of September 2021, VIRTIGATION celebrated its public launch with the unveiling of its website and press releases for general and specialist audiences. Multiple renowned press and media outlets across the globe covered the project’s public launch. In our blog post, we provide an overview of the media coverage highlights of our project’s public launch.
VIRTIGATION is an EU Horizon 2020 project that aims to tackle emerging viral diseases in tomatoes and cucurbits through innovative bio-based solutions. It specifically addresses viral diseases caused by the begomovirus tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) and the tobamovirus tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV). The project lasts from 1st of June 2021 till 31st of May 2025, and has secured an EU funding contribution of nearly EUR 7 million.
Broad reporting in project's focus countries
As a multi-actor approach project, VIRTIGATION seeks to broadly engage stakeholders along the entire tomato and cucurbit value chain. The project operates in 11 countries through its VIRTIGATION network. These countries are Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, which are engaged with dedicated National Knowledge Brokers (NKBs). Italy, Luxembourg, the UK, Israel, Morocco and India are also covered.
Especially in Spain and the Netherlands, the project’s press releases were widely picked up by multiple general and specialist media outlets. In addition to this, VIRTIGATION was also mentioned in German (such as Fruchthandel Online), Italian, UK (like e.g. HortNews) and Indian press and media.
In Spain, the principal investigator from our research partner CSIC, Jesús Navas-Castillo, was interviewed on the popular agriculture multimedia portal AgroDifusión:
Furthermore, VIRTIGATION was also featured in other key specialist Spanish media outlets, such as cuaderno agrario, Hortoinfo, aenverde and Nova Ciencia. Media coverage was also substantial in Spanish local media, especially in the country’s de-facto agricultural capital of Alméria. Almerian publications like e.g. La Voz de Almería, FH Almería and FYH wrote about the project’s launch. Alongside CSIC, our Spanish partners CRAG, TECNOVA and AGAPA were also in focus of news reports.
In the Netherlands, reporting on the project’s public launch was concentrated in particular in specialist press and media publications. This included Nieuwe Oogst, AgriHolland, Onder Glas and Goede morgen Tomaat. The Dutch media outlets especially highlighted the role of our partners Stichting Wageningen Research and Wageningen University in VIRTIGATION.
VIRTIGATION attracting global interest
Moreover, news media in Mexico, Argentina, Russia and Australia reported on the project’s public launch. These countries are not even directly covered by VIRTIGATION. In Mexico, the Mexican general directorate for plant health informed about the project through its communication platform (screenshot below):
Several specialist media outlets with global reach also covered VIRTIGATION’s launch. Among them were Horti Daily and Tomato News, as well as the seed-focused information portals Seed Today and SeedQuest. Tomato News also included a mention of the project in its weekly newsletter.