In this Spotlight On feature, we speak with Georgia Nikolakopoulou from the Agricultural University of Athens, one of the academic partners involved in the CrackSense project. The interview provides a brief view into the perspective of a university team working closely with field trials and growers, and how research activities are aligned with practical needs at orchard level.
Could you tell us a bit about your role at the university and the main research focus of your group?
My name is Georgia Nikolakopoulou, and I am from the Agricultural University of Athens. I am an agronomist in crop science with a specialisation in new technologies. The Agricultural University of Athens is the third oldest university in Greece. The Smart Farming Technology Group at the Agricultural University of Athens focuses mainly on the application of new technologies in the agricultural sector.
What challenges are you addressing?
At the moment, we are at the first experimental plot of the CrackSense pilots in Kiato, in Corinth. The biggest problems in this area are water scarcity and the high prices of fertilisers and plant growth regulators (PGRs).
Could you tell us about your university’s role in the CrackSense project?
AUA is the leader of Work Package 4 in the CrackSense project, and our main role is to develop a database for the collection of fruit cracking data and overall yield from multiple orchards of the studied crop species, to test and validate AI models for the prediction of fruit cracking factors, and lastly to develop a dedicated decision support system for advisors, farmers, and policy makers, providing recommendation tools.
Conclusion
The contribution of the Agricultural University of Athens highlights the role of research institutions in supporting applied solutions within collaborative projects such as CrackSense. By linking experimentation, data handling, and decision support development, the work described in this interview underlines the importance of structured research input in addressing production challenges faced by growers and advisors.
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