During the first day the technical progress in different work packages was reviewed: breeding, cropping, pre-industrial processing and application assessment. Progress is in line with expectations and the project is on time. The main focus has been on starting up lupin cropping trials which are currently ongoing in Portugal, Spain and Greece. Sowing is just finished in Romania and is planned in Austria, Netherlands and Iceland next month. A comprehensive patent search was presented, identifying in which sectors we have a total freedom to operate and where the LIBBIO partners need to be aware of current IPs. It looks like current IPs will only have very marginal influence on the project.
A conference was held on the second day in cooperation with AUA. The title was “New alternatives in Lupin agronomy and processing”. The LIBBIO consortium´s ideas of how Andean lupin (lupinus mutabilis) can be used to enhance European bio-economy were outlined by speakers and the project also described on nine posters. Some 125 people from different sectors attended the conference and 25 followed streaming of it: university employees and students, industrial stakeholders, farmers and policy makers. This communication with Greek stakeholders and the public is regarded very successful.
After the conference the consortium visited the university fields, having a look at the LIBBIO trials.
In June remote technical meetings will be held and the next consortium meeting is planned in the Netherlands late September or early October.