"THE OUTCOME OF HERMANA PROPOSAL WILL BE A DIAGNOSTIC TOOLSET THAT WILL ALLOW TO KNOW IN SPACE AND TIME DEMANDS FOR WATER AND NITROGEN FERTILIZATION OF THE CROP, SO YOU CAN BETTER ADJUST WATER AND NUTRIENT INPUT TO THE CROP�S SPATIALLY AND TEMPORALLY VARYING REQUIREMENTS. THIS IS EXPECTED TO HELP OPTIMIZE YIELD THROUGH INCREASED WATER AND NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCIES.

"MAPPING OF WEEDS IN CROPS IS AN AGRONOMICAL AND TECHNOLGICAL CHALLENGE DUE TO THE APPEARANCE AND SPECTRAL SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BOTH TYPES OF PLANTS (CROP AND WEEDS). THIS CHALLENGE IS ESPECIALLY HARD IN WINTER CEREALS, IN WHICH THE NARROW SPACE BETWEEN CROP LINES (USUALLY < 20 CM) COMPLICATES THE WEED-CROP DISCRIMINATION. WEED MAPPING GOAL SEEKS TO DETECT AND MAP WEED PATCHES TO DEVELOP SITE-SPECIFIC WEED CONTROL STRATEGIES WITH THE ULTIMATE AIM OF OPTIMIZING ANY CONTROL PRACTICE BY APPLYING IT ONLY TO THE WEED INFESTED AREAS.

"IT IS OF STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE FOR MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE TO DEVELOP NEW VARIETIES OF DURUM WHEAT WITH GREATER PRODUCTION POTENTIAL, TOGETHER WITH A BETTER ADAPTATION TO ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND BETTER QUALITY OF GRAIN. WHILE THAT HARD WHEAT IT HAS BENEFITED AS OTHER CEREALS OF THE GREEN REVOLUTION, GENETIC PROGRESS IN RECENT DECADES HAS BEEN LESS EVIDENT, PARTLY MASKED BY CLIMATE CHANGE, AND THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS ARE NOT WELL KNOWN.

"THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS THE PREPARATION OF A PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PROJECT OF THE TYPE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ACTION, TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE HORIZON 2020 PROGRAMME OF THE EU, SPECIFICALLY TO THE CALL IDENTIFIER H2020-SCS-2014-2, TOPIC SFS-02A-2014. THE GRANT REQUESTED TO MINECO WILL ALLOW PREPARING A PROPOSAL OF BETTER QUALITY AND WILL INCREASE THE CHANCES THAT IT IS APPROVED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION. IT WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO INCREASE THE PARTICIPATION OF SPANISH COMPANIES AND R&D ORGANISATIONS.