From 17 to 19 September 2025, POMATO participated in the VII Simposio en Fitopatología y Biocontrol hosted by Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) at the Campus Cumbayá in Quito, Ecuador. The hybrid symposium gathered approximately 200 onsite participants, including students, researchers, growers, industry representatives, and other stakeholders, to discuss advances in plant pathology and biocontrol across diverse crops. The event had a regional scope and offered a valuable forum for exchange between academia, research institutes, and the agricultural sector.
POMATO contributed activities aligned with WP2, which focuses on the characterisation of pathogens, resistance sources, and predisposing factors (T2.1 and T2.2), and WP6, which covers dissemination, communication, exploitation, and multi-actor engagement (T6.1 and T6.2). Mauricio Soto, PhD, from AGROSAVIA delivered an invited talk on Ralstonia and Clavibacter in tomato. Erick Cadena Herrera from USFQ presented a poster that highlighted preliminary POMATO results, including the detection of 32 potential Ralstonia solanacearum isolates from potato, tomato, and banana. These isolates were identified through the use of SMSA selective medium and biochemical tests such as catalase and oxidase, and pathogenicity assays in tomato are currently ongoing. In addition, Antonio León-Reyes from USFQ delivered a talk on patobiomes that connects closely to the POMATO context.
The symposium served as a regional platform to raise awareness, share scientific knowledge, and engage stakeholders on plant disease management and biocontrol. It also marked the first direct contact of Ecuador’s scientific and agricultural community with the POMATO project, strengthening collaboration across research institutes, growers, and the wider agri-food value chain.
Participation and outreach extended across conventional and organic potato and tomato growers, retailers, wholesalers and distributors, the input-related industry, research and academic institutions, technology and innovation actors, policymakers and regulators, environmental and conservation organisations, end consumers, and the media and general public.
