Operational team members

Goulandris Museum of Natural History

The Goulandris Museum of Natural History is a Legal Entity under Private Law and has been classified as a non-profit. It consists of a 5-member Board of Directors, permanent scientific, administrative and technical staff and is supported by specialist scientific advisors in the research and educational field. It was the first Natural History Museum created in Greece in 1964, and the first to lay the foundations of environmental education.

The main object of the Goulandris Museum is research and education for the protection of the environment, including the agricultural sector, through applied research. Specifically, in the Laboratory of Soil Ecology and Biotechnology, research is conducted on the quality of soil/water resources in relation to plant nutrition with the aim of developing new cultivation methods for sustainable agriculture.

Institute of Industrial and Livestock Plants – ELGO Dimitra

The main object of ELGO-DIMITRA is the development and support of actions aimed at the modernization and development of the country’s agricultural sector through applied research. The “Institute of Industrial and Livestock Plants” of ELGO-DIMITRA, seated at Larissa, has a long tradition and contribution to the development of the country’s primary sector. Since its establishment, in 1923 by the Academician – Agronomist Ioannis Papadakis as “Plant Quality Station”, it offers a very important project in the field of conservation and utilization of agricultural biodiversity. At the Institute of Industrial and Livestock Plants of ELGO DIMITRA, seated at Larissa in the “Soil and Water Resources” department, research is conducted on soil and water aimed at maintaining and improving their quality, so that they can perform the functions related to sustainable agricultural production and environmental quality.

FARMERS’ COOPERATIVE OF THESSALY “THESGI”

The Farmers’ Cooperative of Thessaly “THESGI” was founded in February 2013 seated at Larissa by a group of farmers who, facing daily the problems and impasses of agriculture in its traditional form, realized that the future of agriculture lies in the joining of forces. THESGI manages more than 3,000 hectares of arable land in the wider area of Larissa and is active in 4 main crops, cereals, horticulture, pulses and cotton. It has also progressed to processing flour from its own products. The Farmers’ Cooperative of Thessaly “THESGI” aims to:

• Ensure the planning of production and its adaptation to the demand for agricultural products, especially from a quantitative and qualitative point of view
• Promote the concentration of the offer and the disposal of the production of the members of the Cooperative
• Reduce production costs by achieving economies of scale
• Improve the quality of the produced products
• Normalize producer prices
• Give added value to the products it produces through their standardization and processing
• Promote the codes of good agricultural practice as well as production and management techniques of the various means of production with respect for the environment in mind
• Help better manage members’ agricultural equipment through sharing or job sharing

GAIA EPIHEIRIN Α.Ε.

GAIA EPICHEIREIN was founded in 2014 as a result of a broader alliance between agricultural cooperatives that collaborated with strategic partners from the IT and banking sectors in order to serve a common vision for a more sustainable and competitive Greek agriculture. GAIA EPIHEIREIN develops significant activity and provides services that cover a wide range of needs of the primary and agri-food sector operators of the country. A key parameter for their development is the systematic monitoring and coordination with European and international developments that affect the national primary and agri-food sector as well as Greek producers. Emphasis is placed on the course of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which constitutes the basic framework of reference and support for all representatives of the primary and agri-food sector of the EU as well as for national administrations.

KASVIKIS F. PANTREFTAKIS C. PARTNERSHIP – PRO DEPOT

The company “PRO DEPOT” is active in the field of agricultural machinery trade and R&D of new technologies. Its partners have undertaken studies evaluating the effectiveness of fertilizers in grain, maize and grape crops. They have also actively participated in the FATIMA program of Horizon2020 in the design and operation of a model system of variable fertilizer supply applied to crops in the Thessalian plain. The company also has partnerships with the electronics and sensor industry in precision agriculture to reduce fertilizers, increase crop yields and protect the environment.