Genetics and fertility: Posters awarded by the OOWC

The Scientific Committee of the Olive Oil World Congress (OOWC) has already deliberated on the 30 entries received in the scientific poster competition, coming from different regions of the world and on various topics, reflecting the challenges the sector is facing and must address in the coming years. These posters, representing countries such as Turkey, Portugal, Argentina, Spain, Chile, Tunisia, Uruguay and Greece, offer an invaluable contribution to the exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of olive groves and olive oil.

In this edition, the winning posters were 'GEN4OLIVE. Mobilisation of olive genotypes through pre-breeding activities to face future challenges and development of an intelligent interface to ensure a user-friendly availability of information for end users' by Óscar Montaño Ramos, R&D Project Manager at BALAM Agriculture; and 'Impact of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) on sperm function in hypercholesterolemic rabbits', by Estefanía Saez Lancellotti, PostDoc Senior Researcher at the Virgen de la Victoria University Hospital in Málaga.

Montaño's poster addresses the genetic biodiversity crisis in the olive sector. With only 5% of olive varieties used globally for production, the GEN4OLIVE consortium has carried out extensive characterisation of more than 500 international varieties. This has made it possible to identify key genetic traits and assess the resistance of these varieties to climatic and biotic stresses. This approach not only seeks to strengthen the adaptive capacity of the olive grove in the face of future threats, but also to improve the accessibility of the knowledge generated to farmers, who are key players in the sustainability and future viability of the sector.

On the other hand, Saez proposes to evaluate the reversion of sperm damage caused by obesity and metabolic syndrome through the incorporation of olive oil. This finding highlights the potential of EVOO as a dietary intervention to improve male fertility in hypercholesterolemic animal models, which opens new perspectives in the field of reproductive health.

The winners will participate in the defence of their respective posters during the second day of the congress, in a session moderated by the president of the Scientific Committee Ramzi Belkhodja, coordinator of Production, Health and Plant Breeding at CIHEAM Zaragoza.

The whole sector expects the OOWC to boost collaboration between different producing countries and their operators in the sector, promoting innovation and technology. During the congress, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in academic and commercial sessions, as well as networking activities, where they will be able to learn about the latest trends and developments in the industry.

Find out more about the congress programme by visiting this link.

Under the slogan 'Taste it, enjoy, It's olive oil', the OOWC is organised in collaboration with AgroBank, MSC, CIA-Agricoltori Italiani, John Deere, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food through its strategy #alimentosdEspaña, Aceites de Oliva de España, the Junta de Andalucía through its brand 'Gusto del Sur', Filiera Oleicola Olearia Italiana and 'Campo y Alma', the food quality guarantee brand of Castilla-La Mancha, as Platinum sponsors; Grupo Interóleo, Büttner, Yara International, GEA, OLEOMAQ-Oleotec, AGQ Labs and Balam Agriculture as Gold sponsors; the company Kubota, Hispatec, Todolivo and SGS as Silver sponsors; Agrocolor as other sponsors. Agrotec, Voz do Campo, Puglia Live, Grupo Joly and Oleo are the Media Partners of the OOWC.

It is worth remembering that by sponsoring the congress, it will be possible to maintain direct contact with the most important professionals, as well as having great visibility during the most important event in the olive oil sector. Anyone interested in taking part in this project can obtain information from the OOWC Technical Secretariat by calling 917 217 929 or by sending an email to info@oliveoilwc.com.