The Diputació de València has closed an agreement with the Asociación Valenciana de Agricultores (AVA-Asaja) to promote the modernization and expansion of the Finca Experimental Sinyent, located in the municipal term of Polinyà de Xúquer, with the aim of reinforcing its role as a center for training, research, and knowledge transfer to the agricultural sector.
According to the provincial institution, the financial aid, channeled through the Territorial Development area, will be 300,000 euros and will mainly be directed towards expanding the room designated for training, improving the accessibility of the building, and incorporating new infrastructures for the experimental conservation of horticultural products.
The Finca Sinyent is a reference in agricultural experimentation promoted by AVA, where trials and outreach activities are carried out that allow the advances of research to be transferred to field professionals. With the new provisions, it is intended to increase the training offer and practical demonstrations, as well as to promote the exchange of experiences among farmers, research personnel, technicians, and companies in the agri-food sector.
"One of the challenges of the agricultural sector is to ensure that the advances of research reach the daily lives of farmers and can be applied in their operations. In this sense, spaces like the Finca Sinyent allow for testing new techniques, checking their results, and sharing that knowledge with field professionals, something especially useful for addressing issues such as the conservation of products, the reduction of losses, and the improvement of the profitability of operations," explains the deputy of Territorial Development, Avelino Mascarell.
Among the main planned actions, the expansion of the current training room stands out, which will have a larger capacity to organize technical days, seminars, professional meetings, and demonstrations related to agricultural activity. This intervention will allow for an increase in the number of attendees at the activities scheduled at the farm and facilitate that more professionals from the agri-food sector access new techniques and knowledge.
The plan also includes the installation of an elevator in order to improve accessibility to the different facilities and adapt the installations to regulatory requirements, ensuring that training actions can be carried out under adequate conditions for all participating individuals.
Research to optimize fruit preservation
The second line of work is aimed at the implementation of fruit preservation chambers, which will make it possible to conduct tests on the storage conditions of horticultural products and analyze different techniques and technologies aimed at preserving their quality after harvest.
These new infrastructures will be dedicated to researching aspects such as the control of preservation parameters, the reduction of post-harvest losses, and the optimization of storage processes, issues considered strategic for both farmers and marketing companies.
In addition to their role in experimental projects, the chambers will be used as a resource for practical demonstrations and training actions, facilitating that the knowledge generated is directly transferred to agricultural operations. The objective of this aid is "to expand resources to connect applied research with the real needs of producers."