AGRENAOS is a certified agricultural advisory organization and has many years of experience in the management of operational programmes for producer organizations, in the use of rural development financial instruments and in the development of environmentally friendly solutions in agricultural production. Agrenaos has been involved in a number of national and research projects as an innovation broker and as an agent for the dissemination and demonstration of innovation in the agricultural sector. The company is staffed with an adequate number of partners in the Region and is leading the creation of a network of agricultural consultants for the promotion of innovative practices in the Greek agricultural sector. In addition, partnerships with scientific institutions, in Greece and abroad, ensure the necessary synergies for consolidating knowledge and innovation in the agricultural sector.
Christos Karatzas: MSc Agronomist – Agricultural Economist, AUA (Agricultural University of Athens). He specializes in the establishment and operation of producer organizations and has been systematically involved in cooperative law issues. He has many years of experience in coordinating activities in European programmes for the promotion and dissemination of research and innovation in the agri-food sector. In recent years, he has been involved in the creation and operation of a technical support office for a network of agricultural cooperatives and rural development consultants regarding the measures of the Rural Development Programme of CAP 2014-20. He also participates in the organization of a similar network of agricultural advisors in Greece. He has served as an expert in the COPA-COGECA working groups on fruit and vegetables and rural development in Brussels and he is a member of various thematic of the EU CAP Network.
Panagiotis Nasis: MSc Agronomist in Food Science and Technology, AUA. He has participated in various seminars and conferences on New Technologies for Smart Agriculture, Total Quality and Control in Food Packaging and he is a trainer for agronomists supervising integrated management models and implementing sustainable systems in crop production.
Vassia Tsigarida: MSc Agronomist in Plant Production, AUA. She has graduated from the Department of Biotechnology and has successfully completed her Master’s degree in “Sustainable Agriculture and Certification” at the AUA. She has carried out her internship at the IRTA Research Institute in Spain and has worked in food microbiology laboratories. As part of her thesis she has worked on the biological control of weeds in legume crops by incorporating aromatic plants in the soil. She has worked in the management of investment projects in the agricultural sector and she is actively involved in the promotion and communication of the results of the M16 Operational groups to producers and to the general public.
The Αgricultural Cooperative (AC) of Tympaki was founded in 1945 and today has 580 members in southern Crete in the fertile plain of Messara who are cultivating vegetables and producing olive oil. Its main activity is the collection of agricultural products produced by its member farmers and the distribution of these products to the local market and abroad. The cooperative’s new modern facilities are equipped with modern storage, standardization and packaging systems, thus ensuring that the products reach the final consumer in perfect condition. As part of the European Horizon 2020 TRADITOM project, the cooperative contributed its expertise in plant cultivation, quality control, including product quality assessment, sorting, standardization and packaging control.
Konstantinos Koukoulakis: Accountant. With more than 20 years of experience specializing in agricultural production, he has participated in European Projects (Horizon 2020) on behalf of the ΑC of Tympaki. He is also a certified technician in agricultural waste treatment by the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece. In 2018 he founded Cretaweather.gr, an organization for Weather Observation in Crete with many weather stations and camera installations throughout Crete, which now collaborates with Meteo.gr. He also has many interests with IOT and Smarthome automation, as a web developer and as an expert in various social media platforms and office technology programs.
Konstantinos Nikoloudis: Agronomist of the ΑC of Tympaki, who is active in providing instructions and guidelines for the cultivation of greenhouse vegetables to the producers of the AC of Tympaki with more than 25 years of experience. He has participated in European Innovation Projects (Horizon 2020) and has published the results in reputable scientific journals.
Basic and Applied Research at Hellenic Mediterranean University focuses on cutting-edge research areas in engineering, health, agricultural and environmental sciences, materials sciences, formal sciences, economics, humanities and social sciences. As far as the Department of Agriculture is concerned, the research carried out is basic and applied and responds to the contemporary problems of the primary and secondary sector, both in Crete and in the whole country. The staff has the appropriate knowledge and the required scientific competence, with many years of internationally recognized research work, which has been published in reputable scientific journals in the field. The laboratories have well-organized research facilities, well-equipped with modern scientific instruments for the implementation of research activities and the preparation of research theses. The Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology and Pharmacology, which belongs to the Laboratory of Biological and Biotechnological Applications, analyses and solves issues related to the management of pests and pathogens in the context of conventional, integrated and sustainable agriculture.
Emmanuel Roditakis: Dr. Roditakis Emmanuel is President of the Department of Agriculture of the Hellenic Mediterranean University and Associate Professor of Agricultural Entomology and Pharmacology and also member of the Plant Protection Committee of the Regional Council of Crete. His main interests are the integrated management of crop pests, the evaluation of the effectiveness of new control methods, the diagnosis, monitoring and management of insecticide resistance and the diagnosis and management of new crop pests. He has coordinated more than 20 National and European Research Programmes and is the author of more than 50 scientific articles in reputable international journals and also multiple contributions to scientific conferences and books. In the framework of the project entitled “Smart diagnostic tools and database for the support of precision plant protection in horticultural crops in Crete ‘SmartPP'”, he participated in the development of strategies for the management of plant protection and resistance in the context of integrated control, especially of the important pest Tuta absoluta. He also participated in the European research project ArimNet/STomP which focuses on the protection of crops from important pests such as Tuta absoluta and Bemisia tabaci which have caused major problems in production in recent years. Finally, Mr. Roditakis is a reviewer and subject editor for leading international journals as well as an organizer of many national and international conferences.
Kyriaki Mylona: MSc. Environmental Engineering Technologist who works as a scientific collaborator at the Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology and Pharmacology of the Hellenic Mediterranean University. She participates, as a member of the research team, in insecticide and plant protection efficacy evaluation projects and she is in charge of the laboratory for monitoring the resistance of the used plant protection products and their efficacy on the tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta. For the control of Tuta absoluta populations, she carries out in the laboratory modern and highly accurate scientific bioassay methods on both conventional and biological formulations.
Konstantina Alipranti: Alipranti Konstantina is an MSc. Technologist Agronomist and works as a scientific collaborator at the Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology and Pharmacology of Hellenic Mediterranean University since 2021. As a member of the research team, she has participated in insecticide efficacy evaluation and resistance monitoring projects of the pests Bemisia tabaci and Bactrocera oleae as well as in the design of an Integrated Pest Management program. The laboratory methods used are modern and highly accurate bioassays on both conventional and biological formulations. In addition, she has participated in the pilot project EXARCHOS 2022, where dummy sprays were applied for the control of olive blight with drones.