Stelios Kartakis (Wageningen University) presented his work, “Migration extent and potential economic impact of the fall armyworm in Europe”, at the XVIII Congress of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE), held in Bonn, Germany, from 26–29 August. The congress, themed “Food System Transformation in Challenging Times”, marked the 50th anniversary of the EAAE. This work was...

The International Forestry Quarantine Research Group Meeting will take place from 29 September to 3 October 2025 at ANSES (Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Alimentation, de l’Environnement et du Travail / French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety) in Maisons-Alfort, France.

We are delighted that Luís Bonifácio (INIAV, Portugal) will represent our...

In August, the VOC collector arrived at the University of Padua (UNIPD), and over the next three weeks, the volatile profiles of peach, pear, apple, and soybean plants will be evaluated, during infestation with stinkbugs .

Our dear colleague Ana Fundurulic is embarking on new and, we're sure, wonderfully exciting adventures!

We are deeply grateful for the exceptional contributions she's made to the PurPest project, especially as the heart and soul of Dissemination, Communication, and Exploitation (WP6). Since the day she joined, Ana's dedication, professionalism, and ever-cheerful spirit have been a true...

On 16 July 2025, at the Plant Interaction Meetings hosted by ITQB NOVA in Oeiras, Portugal, Maria João Camacho from INIAV presented advances in innovative sensor technologies for sustainable crop protection, highlighting the goals of the PurPest project. Her talk emphasized the importance of early detection of plant-parasitic nematodes to support more effective pest management...

As part of a technical visit by a delegation from the National Institute of Forest Science and the Korea Forest Service, the Nematology and Forest Entomology Laboratories at INIAV hosted a presentation on the key aspects of the impact, diagnosis, and management of the pinewood nematode in Portugal over the past 25 years.

In the context of innovation in diagnostic methods, the...

A new PurPest-supported article published in Chemosensors showcases the potential of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) to detect ergothioneine, a key antioxidant in mushrooms, with high accuracy. Featuring contributions from Pavol Miškovský of SAFTRA Photonics, the research highlights SERS as a rapid, non-destructive method for in situ detection of bioactive compounds in...

Headquartered in Kosice, Slovakia, SAFTRA Photonics Ltd. is an award-winning high-tech SME specializing in advanced nanomaterials and optical sensor technologies. With a strong focus on applied research and innovation, it develops ultra-sensitive detection systems that transform complex scientific concepts into practical solutions for monitoring environmental and biological phenomena at the...

Founded in 2019 and with offices in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Cambridge, UK, Volatile AI is a pioneering SME working on AI-enhanced volatile organic compound (VOC) detection. With the mission to digitize the invisible world of molecules and smells by developing smart, portable sensing technologies, they bring lab-grade chemical analysis into real-world environments.

As a key technical partner in...