As part of ongoing collaboration within the POMATO project, Antonio León from the University of San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) recently visited project partners Funditec and CBGP in Spain. The visits provided an excellent opportunity to learn more about the partners’ facilities, ongoing activities, current progress and future objectives within the project.

During the meetings, Funditec and CBGP members kindly presented their work, shared insights into their research and development activities, and discussed the challenges and needs they are currently facing. The exchange helped strengthen collaboration within WP2 and WP6, while also supporting better alignment among different teams and work packages involved in POMATO.

A key focus of the discussions was the progress of the POMATO detection devices currently under development. In particular, partners explored the possible use of bacterial exudate samples from banana plants for validation trials of these detection devices. This discussion opened the door to further technical exchange and potential collaboration between the teams.

The visit also contributed to building stronger connections among POMATO partners by creating space for direct dialogue, knowledge exchange and a better understanding of each partner’s expertise. Such interactions are essential for supporting the project’s multi-actor and collaborative approach, ensuring that technological development is aligned with real research needs and partner capacities.

Through activities like this, POMATO continues to foster cooperation across disciplines, countries and work packages, helping partners jointly advance towards the project’s goal of developing effective, sustainable and innovative solutions for the management of bacterial diseases in potato and tomato crops.