From launch to action: what CITRUSBUSTERS achieved in its first semester
Since the project’s launch in May 2025, the CITRUSBUSTERS consortium has actively advanced its scientific, technical, and engagement activities to establish a strong basis for the next phases of work. During this initial period, partners focused on setting up laboratory and greenhouse workflows, coordinating field-related activities with Brazilian collaborators, and initiating preparatory studies across the project’s research areas.
From Lab to Land: building safer and more resilient crop protection systems together
On 30 September 2025, the AGRO4AGRI project hosted the webinar “From Lab to Land: A Focus on Safer, Sustainable Solutions for Crop Protection and Nutrition”, bringing together more than 55 participants from across Europe’s research, policy, and agri-food communities. For CITRUSBUSTERS, the webinar was a valuable opportunity to engage with sister Horizon Europe projects and stakeholders around a shared challenge: how to move sustainable crop protection solutions from research to real-world adoption
Together for plant health: meet CITRUSBUSTERS’ sister initiatives
Protecting European agriculture from pests, diseases, soil degradation and climate pressure requires more than one project. It takes a coordinated ecosystem of innovation. Alongside CITRUSBUSTERS, several Horizon Europe projects are advancing sustainable plant protection, biocontrol, and circular agricultural practices.
CITRUSBUSTERS at ICBC 2025: sharing innovation for a healthier citrus future
CITRUSBUSTERS was presented at the International Citrus and Beverage Conference (ICBC) highlighting its mission to combat citrus pests through innovation and collaboration. Together with IFU, the project aims to bridge research and practice for a more resilient citrus sector worldwide.
Building alliances to protect Europe’s crops: CITRUSBUSTERS, POMATO, and EmergeNOW
In the fight against emerging plant pests and diseases, no initiative can thrive alone. Under the Horizon Europe programme, several initiatives are joining forces to develop cutting-edge solutions that protect Europe’s crops, food security, and biodiversity. Among them, CITRUSBUSTERS, POMATO, and EmergeNOW share the same objectives while tackling different aspects of the plant health challenge.
How the EU protects plant health
Protecting plant health is central to Europe’s environmental and economic priorities, since Europe’s agriculture faces growing threats from invasive pests, climate change, and global trade. Particularly, citrus production is threatened by Citrus Black Spot and Citrus Greening, two pests that CITRUSBUSTERS aims to fight. Our project aligns with the robust regulatory
Insights from Biopesticides Europe 2025
On June 4–5, 2025, the Biopesticides Europe 2025 congress in Madrid brought together leaders in sustainable pest control, from agriculture and research to policy and industry. Key topics included scaling up biopesticides for commercial use, their integration with precision agriculture, and regulatory frameworks.
CITRUSBUSTERS joins IFU annual conference
On June 12, 2025, CITRUSBUSTERS was presented at the prestigious IFU Juice Conference in São Paulo, Brazil. Held over three days (June 11–13), this global industry gathering attracted approximately 280 professionals, including distributors, suppliers, executives, and researchers from across the juices sector.
Citrus pests: a raising concern in Europe
In this article we uncover why citrus production matters for European economy, communities, and ecosystems
What is CITRUSBUSTERS? Your needs, our objectives
Europe’s citrus sector is facing an unusual storm: devastating diseases like Citrus Black Spot (CBS) and Citrus Greening (Huanglongbing, HLB), and an urgent need to move away from chemical pesticides. These challenges threaten not only production and biodiversity, but also farmers’ livelihoods and the stability of rural economies.