THE CLOSING CONFERENCE: 17 october 2025 at CNR in Palermo
After more than three years of research, field and laboratory experiments, and international collaborations, the PROSIT Project – Plant Microbiomes in Sustainable Viticulture presented its results at the closing conference “Microbiome-Based Strategies for Enhancing Viticultural Adaptation to Climate Change”, held on Friday, October 17, 2025, at the headquarters of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in Palermo, one of the project’s scientific partners.
Funded by the PRIMA Programme and coordinated by the University of Padua, PROSIT involved an international network of excellence including: CNR-IBBR (Palermo), University of Milan, INRAE (France), ENSA (Algeria), and the Max Planck Institute (Germany).
The core of the research focused on the study of endophytic microorganisms—beneficial bacteria and fungi that live inside plants—with the aim of enhancing the grapevine’s resilience to drought, one of the major challenges facing the future of Mediterranean agriculture, which is increasingly affected by climate change.
During the final conference, the scientific results, the strategies implemented, and the future prospects for the use of microbial consortia in more sustainable agriculture were presented. The event represented an important opportunity for discussion and knowledge exchange among researchers, technicians, institutions, and stakeholders from the wine sector.
On Saturday, October 18, a field experience was held at Vivai Mannone in Petrosino (Trapani), a strategic partner of the project. This site hosts the Sicilian grape varieties Nero d’Avola and Grillo, which played a key role in the laboratory and field experiments conducted during the project. The visit to Petrosino provided a concrete example of how tradition and innovation can work together to address today’s environmental challenges. 🍇🌱
“PROSIT has been an important opportunity to highlight the microbiological heritage of local varieties and to put science at the service of real agriculture,” said the project coordinator, Prof. Michela Zottini of the University of Padua. “We hope that the work carried out and the results achieved through the PROSIT project will open new paths for agricultural innovation, where knowledge, biodiversity, and international cooperation become the true allies of the land.” 🌱
A heartfelt thanks goes to all the partners involved who contributed to the success of the project: IBBR-CNR (Davide Pacifico), INRAE (Philippe Gallusci), the University of Milan (Alex Costa), ENSA (Arezki Lehad), and the Max Planck Institute (Alisdair Fernie), together with all the collaborators who made this ambitious journey possible, advancing new knowledge for the future of grapevine cultivation and Mediterranean agriculture. 🍇
