Catalonia, a famed region in northeast Spain, has a lot in common with California – beautiful coastline and mountains, a sunny Mediterranean climate and a robust agricultural sector that produces wine, olives and a variety of fruits and vegetables.
It is also home to a public research institute with a historically strong partnership with the University of California, dating back to the late 1980s.
On Sept. 22, a delegation from the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA) and the Catalan Department of Agriculture met with UC ANR leaders in Davis. Glenda Humiston, UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources, and Òscar Ordeig, Catalan Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, signed a memorandum of understanding extending that productive collaboration.
“This MOU will prioritize research and innovation in food systems within ‘Mediterranean’ climates, typical of California, Catalonia, Australia and some regions of Europe, South America and Africa,” Humiston said. “We aim to develop and deliver new tools and resources to farmers and ranchers across California – as well as elsewhere in the world – where severe drought, extreme heat and greater weather fluctuations are causing new challenges.”
The advancement of efficient water management has been a cornerstone of the 30-year relationship between the UC and Catalan researchers. Solutions to water scarcity are again a focus of the delegation’s weeklong trip through California.
“The goal of this trip is to explore and establish new opportunities for collaboration, particularly in addressing one of the sector’s greatest challenges and a key priority of the Catalan government: modernizing irrigation,” Ordeig explained.
Other members of the delegation included Josep Usall, CEO of IRTA; Rosa Cubel, Catalan Agricultural Ministry Secretary of Food; Jordi Garcia-Mas, IRTA scientific director; and Joan Girona, IRTA senior researcher.
Given the overall emphasis on water, Erik Porse, director of UC ANR’s California Institute for Water Resources, and Atef Swelam, a pioneering irrigation scientist and director of the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (REC) and West Side REC, will serve as UC ANR representatives in coordinating research activities.
“Whatever we develop in California or in Catalonia will benefit not only the two places, but it can be helpful to other regions that have similar conditions,” Swelam said.
Catalan scientists reconnect with UC ANR colleagues
Swelam welcomed the Catalan delegation to Kearney REC in Fresno County on Sept. 25. Then several UC Cooperative Extension specialists and advisors – Khaled Bali, Mae Culumber, Joy Hollingsworth, Themis Michailides, Florent Trouillas and Andreas Westphal – presented their latest research on irrigation management, almonds, table grapes, pistachios, plant diseases and nematodes.
“This trip reaffirms IRTA’s commitment to strengthening our strategic alliance with the University of California, a world-renowned institution at the forefront of agrifood research,” Usall said. “This collaboration has enabled us to pool knowledge, share talent and launch high-impact projects that address the sector’s global challenges.”
Informally, the scientists have consulted each other. Last year, when a grower brought a blotchy tree leaf to Trouillas, the UC Cooperative Extension fruit and nut crop pathology specialist contacted IRTA scientists for help in identifying it as red leaf blotch, a new disease in California almonds.
During the visit to Parlier, Usall reminisced about living in the dorms at Kearney REC in 1995 while working as a USDA intern when he was a doctoral student. In 2000, he returned to collaborate with Carlos Crisosto, UCCE specialist at UC Davis, on a postharvest disease project on peaches and nectarines at KREC. He has continued to work in plant pathology.
With the new agreement, Garcia-Mas said they will broaden their research collaborations with UC beyond irrigation to include plant protection, genomics and postharvest practices. They also hope to improve their application of research information by examining the Cooperative Extension model.
“We do research, basic science, but our main motive is to also take this research and translate it into the agricultural sector,” Garcia-Mas said. “We do it mainly in collaboration with private companies and also with farmers. We want to learn from your system that goes from basic research to extension.”
Catalan delegation meets with UC Davis, government and industry leaders
During their trip, the Catalan delegation also met with Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture; Wade Crowfoot, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency; and leaders of the Almond Board of California and the Fresno Irrigation District.
In addition, they met with representatives from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, visited the UC Davis Olive Center, and toured leading agrifood businesses, including several with ties to Catalonia.
“We have so much to learn from each other about the latest innovations in agricultural research and food systems, especially in adapting to the ripple effects of a changing climate,” Humiston said. “I am thrilled that this MOU will build on the UC’s long-standing collaborations with our friends from Catalonia, for the benefit of communities in both our regions and across the globe.”