Comunicati stampa
June, 2025
The STELLA Horizon Europe project is moving forward dynamically with a set of coordinated activities aimed at transforming how pest monitoring and plant health surveillance are conducted across Europe and New Zealand.
At this stage of implementation, STELLA has successfully installed a network of smart insect traps and initiated the regular capture of satellite imagery across pilot sites. These tools form the backbone of the project’s innovative STELLA Pest Surveillance System (PSS), a real-time pest detection, forecasting, and response platform.
In addition, UAVs (drones) are actively capturing high-resolution images from selected plots, providing granular data to complement satellite observations. The EdenViewer, an AI-powered scouting device, is already deployed in the field and used during scouting sessions. Leveraging machine learning and computer vision, it captures and analyses in-field images to detect potential pathogen presence in real time.
Data collection has already begun and will be instrumental in enabling early pest warning, supporting data-informed interventions, and promoting more sustainable crop protection practices.
Figure 1: Drone over the plane tree forest of Kireas, Evia Island.
Credit: Agricultural University of Athens
Launch of STELLA Capacity-Building Workshops
The first workshop in the series will take place online on June 4, 2025, at 10:00 CEST, and will focus on pest detection tools with a special feature on the Lithuanian Pilot Use Case, which addresses Potato Leafroll Virus (PLRV), a significant threat to arable crops in Europe.
Participants will explore technologies integrated into the STELLA PSS, including satellite-based monitoring, UAVs, AI-driven scouting solutions, and mobile applications. In addition, the workshop will feature the QuantiFarm toolkit, a curated collection of Digital Agricultural Technology Solutions (DATs) designed to optimise crop management decisions and enhance production efficiency across diverse farming systems.
Registration link (no longer active – valid until June 4): https://shorturl.at/NL50U
Workshop language: English
The workshop is organised with contributions from: Agricultural University of Athens | University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) | reframe.food | METOS by Pessl Instruments | AgriFood Lithuania DIH | EdenCore Technologies
Figure 2: Pest traps deployed in the fields.
Credit: IFV (French Wine and Vine Institute)
Stakeholder Survey to Inform Platform Development
In parallel, the STELLA consortium is conducting a stakeholder survey to better understand the needs, practices, and expectations of the agricultural community. The survey targets farmers, foresters, researchers, policymakers, AgriFood and AgTech experts, and active citizens, and is designed to inform the user-centric development of the PSS platform.
The survey remains open, and participation is still welcome from all interested stakeholders. Across all languages and outreach materials, the central message remained consistent: “Your expertise makes a difference.” Each response contributes to shaping a more effective, inclusive, and impactful future for plant health in Europe.
Survey link (available in three languages):
English (no longer active – valid until June 16) – https://shorturl.at/RiQgP
Greek (no longer active – valid until June 16) – https://shorturl.at/VcbeN
Italian (no longer active – valid until June 16) – https://shorturl.at/m6ZJZ
The results of the survey will be integrated into the design of the STELLA PSS platform to ensure it meets the real needs of end users.
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