(Integrated) Human Practices
Introduction
In the context of Integrated Human Practices, our team began following the Cycle of Human Practices and started thinking about the people and groups of people who could be affected by the project, people who could offer their expertise and people who will use the final product or be related to it, directly and indirectly.
We started by having as a guiding principle the Human Practices Cycle, so in the first months, we tried to develop our project focusing on the following stages:
1) Team formation
2) Development of the main project idea
3) Communicating the project, improving and modifying our techniques and integrating new ideas after collection and processing all the important feedback from specialists that we gained during our project developing time.
Our constant desire to improve and implement our project led to several meetings with agricultural experts and scientists, as well as farmers who we aspire to be the final users of the developed product. The goal was to create a useful tool that will be integrated in their work, in order to facilitate it. Simultaneously there were consulted agronomists, food chemists, as well as regulatory experts for evaluation and to get feedback for the gaps that we could incorporate. Throughout this process the general public was involved as well, since we interacted with every person possible that our project could have an impact on.
Our main guidance on deciding the basic concept of our project this year was the meetings with significant experts of the agricultural research institute of Greece ELGO-Demeter Soil and Water Institute, who were our main consultants throughout our journey. After discussions about the many problems of modern-day agriculture in our country and the lack of bibliography in integrating techniques in Precision Agriculture, we decided that we could be the change that needed to be done.
Thus our team developed the PAGGAIA project, in which the ELGO-Demeter Institute contributed greatly with their expertise and knowledge to the final outcome of our project.
Communication with farmers and experts in the field of Agriculture
Farmers' opinions
As Human Practices subgroup, we began reaching out to farmers from the agricultural area of Larissa (located at the northern part of our country Greece). The purpose of our visit to Larissa was to discuss in person the problems the farmers face during the cultivation of their land and gain feedback about the possible implementation of our project on agricultural procedures.
Most of the farmers were familiar with the term “Precision Agriculture” and understood that the combination of agriculture with the new technologies will be inevitable in the future, especially in a country with an expanded primary sector like Greece. Despite that, there is a lack of basic knowledge and education related to the use of new technological facilities, especially as far as it concerns older farmers (Fig.1).
Our team created a survey that was evaluated by the Research Ethics Committee of University of Patras. The main purpose of this questionnaire was to evaluate the opinion of farmers regarding Precision Agriculture, its possible applications as well as the evaluation of the implementation of the PAGGAIA project in Greece.
According to the survey, the new generation of younger farmers seems to be willing to be informed, and are receptive to try all the new methods of farming by using applications that integrate technologies such as GPSs and drones (Fig.2). They also believe that their job will become much easier and that our project could help them both raise their income, as the tailor-made suggestions offered by the algorithm will save them money wasted in excess irrigation water, pesticides and fertilizers, and improve their crops' quality (Fig.3). They found very useful the idea of a portable lab that will provide results on the spot, as a time saving solution that will save time and money from moving samples and will help them reduce the excess translocations in large fields.
Experts' opinions
After getting the appropriate feedback from farmers, we came in contact with experts in the field of agriculture and stakeholders. We met with the scientific staff of two greek companies, ELBAK S.A. - Food Processing Company and Del Monte, a company producing canned fruits. The experts spectrum included food chemists, pharmacists, agronomists and business analysts of the companies. The feedback indicated that although our approach is rather interesting and very well constructed scientifically, they have encountered the same agricultural methods in the past, which might raise some criticism. More specifically they mentioned the previous problems that concerned the farmers as well and they added that it would be a difficult method to apply to the Greek agricultural sector since most farmers have passed the age of 60 and are currently very reluctant with the application of new methods. Furthermore they added that this agricultural approach that PAGGAIA suggests has to be adopted by many farmers of the same area, since many nutrients, pesticides and fertilizers can transfer through the soil from one field to the other. They also filled out our informative survey addressing experts in the field of agriculture, evaluated by the Research Ethics Committee of University of Patras, about the anonymous evaluation of our project. The main purpose of this questionnaire was to evaluate the opinion of the scientists of the agricultural sector regarding Precision Agriculture, its possible applications as well as the evaluation of the application of the PAGGAIA project in Greece.
Therefore, taking all the above into consideration, we decided to develop a business plan that targets large farmers' associations in our country, in order to reach out to more farmers and to be able to make a bigger impact on larger cultivated areas. Also, aiming to make sure that the report of the algorithm which is the final product of our proposed implementation, would be written in such a way, so that it can be easily understandable from farmers that do not have specialized knowledge in the matter, while also trying to provide guidance throughout the process. In addition, we realized that there is a need for educational training on drones for farmers to familiarize with this technology.
Out team had also a meeting with Andreas Katsaniotis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs & Agronomist. The project was presented and the perspective of Precision Agriculture in Greece was discussed, and more specifically how exactly the technologies and services resulting from our project could be included in the programs of each region with the aim of mass application in extensive farming areas. In parallel, the legislations in the agri-food sector were another topic for our Integrated Human Practices process, while appropriate comments were made in the original version of the Farmer's Handbook, which was modified to match the needs of modern farmers. Finally, observations were made regarding interventions in the soil and more specifically the suggestion to focus on the study of bacteria and symbiotic relationships in the soil microbiome.
Communication with Academics
As the experimental course of the project was progressing, and keeping in mind the valuable feedback from farmers and agronomists, our contact with experts continued, this time in the academic field, with a variety of experts that would help us find the gaps in the process of developing the project. Throughout this Integrated Human Practices stage, it was necessary to approach scientists that related to our project, on both local and national level.
Dr. Vasileios Papasotiropoulos
We approached Dr. Vasileios Papasotiropoulos, who is Professor of Genetics - Plant Breeding in the Department of Agriculture at University of Patras, Greece. He is a graduate of the Agricultural University of Athens and holds a PhD in Genetics from the Department of Biology at the University of Patras. Following his PhD, he joined the Center for Applied Genomics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, USA as a postdoctoral fellow from 2001 to 2005. Therefore, he was a very important expert, to speak about agricultural issues of the project. He suggested that we examine very closely at the specifications of the industrial tomato, which is our plant model, so that it meets with the correct conditions of soil preparation and cultivation. Crucial issues were discussed regarding the drone images and how important the phenotypic analysis of the images would be, throughout the various stages of cultivation. This would be a useful integration for possible identification of plant attacks by pathogens.
Vasiliki Mollaki
Bioethics is a necessary component that should characterize every iGEM project. Project PAGGAIA revolves studying microorganisms that have been released in the environment and more specifically the soil in cultivation areas. Therefore it was imperative to approach experts in the Bioethics field and to ensure that the project complies with the dictates of Bioethics. Since the project utilizes decision-making systems based on Artificial Intelligence as tools that will be used by farmers and companies in the end, it was necessary to be evaluated by a Technoethics aspect too.
In this direction, our Team approached Vasiliki Mollaki, who works as a Scientific Officer at National Commission for Bioethics and Technoethics (former Hellenic National Bioethics Commission), and has been appointed as an external Ethics Expert in the European Commission. She is also a member of the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of the University of Patras, University of West Attica and the International Hellenic University, as well as the National Committee for the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes. There was a zoom meeting with Mrs Mollaki, to discuss in detail the goals and applications of our project and collect important feedback on implementation.
Bioethics
For starters, there was discussion on the importance of laboratory and field safety countermeasures when using either wild type organisms or genetically modified organisms. Regarding the lab experiments, it was emphasized to study the Regulations in Greece, on the lab biosecurity level, the equipment and the risk assessment in general, for the security of the working personnel. About the field and the impregnation of the soil, there were safety parameters and regulations too, to be taken into consideration on restraints and controlled release.
Our project included soil impregnation with wild type B. subtilis strains, although important safety measures concern the equipment and the safety of the staff carrying out the procedure. Equally important is the environmental protection, as well as the security of the neighboring crops, that may be affected through the water table.
Technoethics
Since the project includes sampling with special soil-sampling drones, which with an integrated camera will map the cultivation areas, questions of Technoethics arise, which our Team will attempt to consider for the future application of the project. More specifically, a special flight permit is required from the Air Force, including the precise coordinates of the area, the altitude, the duration of the flight and the pilot, who must also acquire a license to use it.
At the same time, the use of the camera raises questions regarding the protection of personal data, whether they concern photos of the people working in the area that will be mapped and passers-by, or concerning the geo-location that will be recorded and specified through a satellite.
Assistant Professor Hera Karagianni
Among other specialists we reached out to Assistant Professor Hera Karagianni, from the Department of Biological Applications and Technology, University of Ioannina, Greece. Her research topics include ecosystem and biodiversity management and conservation. Through our online meeting, she gave us very important feedback about our project. Firstly she was very impressed with our work and stated that it offers a very feasible and modern solution to a problem that has been gaining growth in the agricultural sector. She suggested that we should also add to the 17 Sustainable goals, the goal of life underwater, since the controlled and reduced use of fertilizers and pesticides can help battle the very frequent problems of eutrophism and many other significant issues that underwater ecosystems face, because of human interventions in the environment. That is the case, because all the waste of the fields eventually ends in water masses such as lakes, rivers and seas. Moreover she gave a solution to our question about the way that we can integrate this method to many greek farmers, by making large farmers' associations apply this method, which we included in our proposed implementation.
Dr. Alexandra Meziti
After finishing our experiments, it was necessary to consult an expert for the further interpretation of the analysis results and for this reason Dr. Alexandra Meziti was approached, as a Biologist, with a PhD in Environmental Microbiology. Dr. Meziti specializes in the field of microbiology, microbial diversity and phylogenetic methods and her knowledge in these fields was of great help in the support of our project. The Dr. provided us with information about the taxonomic analysis at the Phylum-Class level and the Operational taxonomic unit (OTU) level and gave us significant information for some of the different species and bacterial strains that were analyzed. Finally, she referred us to more literature research to understand the differences between bacterial species and to be able to support our project.
AgroAPPS-Agricultural Consultancy Company
During the intermediate and final stages of the project, we approached agricultural consulting companies, in order to see more realistically the feasibility of the project and its response to the needs of the market. AgroAPPS is a greek agricultural consultancy company with the aim of offering services for the development of the agricultural sector, through advanced technologies, IT and remote sensing and developing integrated IT solutions for the agricultural space. The aim of the meeting was to get an overall feedback on the business prospects and the general evaluation to fill scientific and utility gaps. Among the company's staff, agronomists, business development executives, as well as scientists in the field of rural development participated in the meeting, who submitted their observations.
Initially, there were many positive observations about the innovation of the project and the Precision Agriculture approach, as it may already have been a part of the reality in the data of greek agriculture, it is a dynamic approach that will bring about an even greater revolution with the integration of appropriate tools. Therefore, the project was commented as very modern and a research subject that can actually meet the needs of the farmers and the companies in these services.
The idea of using the drone for remote areas was strongly discussed, which was although extremely useful, but was met with concern regarding the cost effectiveness of providing such services to farmers. In the same direction, the need to develop a business plan for the project was discussed, including the general cost of the soil analysis package with the portable laboratory, as well as the providing of the soil sampling drones to services like companies and agricultural cohabitations. The business plan should be developed to analyze an estimation of the cost regarding the acres of cultivation areas that the drone could cover for sampling, taking into account a spherical presentation of benefits and costs.
A more quantitative approach was suggested regarding the final results, and more specifically the presentation of the NGS results, connecting more directly the B. subtilis presence in soil and the crop yield.
Our Team decided to utilize this valuable feedback and start more research on creating a business plan, after carefully studying business models and taking into account the important feedback.
SDGs experts Karla Nayeli Munoz Rubio and Ana Gabriela Gonzalez Castillo
iGEM Aboa and iGEM TecCEM organized an online meeting with SDGs experts Karla Nayeli Munoz Rubio and Ana Gabriela Gonzalez Castillo, SDGs experts and activists, for an Integrated HP meeting regarding feedback on SDGs.
Feedback from farmers
After training the algorithm, and conducting the final reports, we approached farmers from cooperatives in the Achaia region in Western Greece, with the aim of evaluating them. Farmers gave us feedback on how understandable they find the reports. The depiction of the metagenomic analysis of the soil microbiome seemed to need further and simplified development, so our team adapted the report accordingly.
In addition, our team distributed to farmers a Handbook that was created in collaboration with iGEM Aboa and iGEM TecCEM, which includes an introduction to SynBio, useful information such as plant diseases and sustainable agricultural practices, specifically on fertilizers' reduction. The Handbook was created in English and was translated in Greek for educational purposes. There was also a brief introduction to the teams' projects, to offer a better understanding of how Synthetic Biology can be applied and have a positive impact on agriculture. Farmers and agronomists evaluated how useful and informative they find this Handbook.
Find the two versions of our Handbook.
