Preface of the 11th International Conference of Information and Communication Technologies in Agriculture, Food & Environment (HAICTA 2024) in Karlovasi, Samos, Greece, 17–20 October 2024

1. Conference Overview/Introduction

This second volume of short-paper proceedings contains a selection of 35 short papers presented at the 11th International Conference on Information and Communication technologies in Agriculture, Food & Environment (HAICTA 2024) that took place in Karlovasi, Samos, Greece, on 17–20 October 2024.

HAICTA is the Greek Branch of the European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture (EFITA). The series of HAICTA conferences are an international venue for research in ICT, including the innovations and best practices in the agri-food sector and rural development, and constitute a leading international professional and scientific forum for IT experts, agronomists, animal husbandry experts, agri-food scientists, environmentalists, water engineers, veterinarians, spatial engineers, and decision-makers. These conferences constitute an interdisciplinary forum in which researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers can present and discuss the results of their research, recent policies and developments in the field of agriculture, food, and environment, new technologies, and emerging ICT applications.

The HAICTA 2024 conference received 118 paper submissions, of which 106 were accepted. The main topics covered included precision technologies: crop and livestock production, farm and animal health monitoring, sustainable management of natural resources/ecosystem services, information systems and web applications/digital farming, decision support systems, sustainability and resilience of rural areas and agri-food systems, environmental design and policy, sustainable crop and livestock production, climate change modeling/climate vulnerability, adaptation and mitigation, innovation in farms and rural areas, sustainable food value chains, and more. Out of these 106 papers, 67 were short papers and 39 were abstracts; 35 papers were presented as e-posters. This volume of short papers covers 35 of these total papers.

HAICTA 2024 was the third conference in the series to offer both in-person attendance, remote participation, and live-streaming for those who could not attend, enabling the opportunity for an even wider audience. Authors had the option to either present in-person at the conference or remotely through teleconferencing. In total, 37 papers were presented orally, while 34 were presented via teleconferencing. The first three days of the conference were live-streamed through the official YouTube channel of HAICTA (https://www.youtube.com/@haicta), and they remain available online and on-demand for anyone interested.

We are grateful to all of the authors who submitted their papers to the conference and to all HAICTA 2024 participants. We would also like to thank the reviewers and members of the Scientific Committee for ensuring the quality of the proceedings. HAICTA 2024 used a blind review process, and each submitted abstract and short paper was evaluated by one, two, or more reviewers, who all provided valuable comments.

We are also grateful to the invited keynote speaker, Dr. Samir Mili (CSIC Madrid, Spain), who shared his ideas and research results with HAICTA community in his inspired lecture. We would also like to thank the Organizing Committee Chairs and the Conference Chairs for their support.

We hope that the short-paper proceedings, Volume II of HAICTA 2024, will promote discussion within the scientific community regarding the integration of innovative ideas, solutions, practices, digital technologies, and research applications for the development of sustainable and resilient environmental and agricultural systems.

2. Conference Committees

2.1. Conference Chairs

Stavriani Koutsou, International Hellenic University, Greece.

Alexandros Theodoridis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

2.2. Organizing Committees

Elias Tsourapas (co-chair), HAICTA, Greece.

George Vlontzos (co-chair), University of Thessaly, Greece.

Thomas Bournaris, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Christina Kleisiari, University of Thessaly, Greece.

Georgios Kountios, International Hellenic University, Greece.

Staviani Koutsou, International Hellenic University, Greece.

Leonidas Sotirios Kyrgiakos, University of Thessaly, Greece.

Eftsratios Michalis, Hellenic Agricultural Organization "DEMETER", Greece.

Athanasios Ragkos, Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Greece.

Alexandros Theodoridis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Marios Vasileiou, University of Thessaly, Greece.

2.3. Scientific Committees

Thomas Bournaris (co-chair), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Athanasios Ragkos (co-chair), Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Greece.

Mikaël Akimowicz, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, France.

Garyfallos Arabatzis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece.

Stamatia Bibi, University of Western Macedonia, Greece.

Miltiadis Chalikias, University of Western Attica, Piraeus, Greece.

Youssef Chebli, INRA, Morocco.

Alessandra Crisà, CREA, Italy.

Sergio A. David, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Pavlos Delias, International Hellenic University, Greece.

Georgios Delis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Konstantinos Demestichas, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.

Evangelos Economou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Vania V. Estrela, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil.

Maria Eleni Filippitzi, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Ioannis Fotidis, Ionian University, Greece.

Miklós Herdon, University of Debrecen, Hungary.

Ekaterina Ivanova, Space Research and Technology Institute—BAS, Bulgaria.

Apostolos Kantartzis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece.

Sofia Karampela, Ionian University, Greece.

Paraskevi Karanikola, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece.

Pavlos Karanikolas, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.

Sotiris Karetsos, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.

Georgios Kolkos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Nazan Koluman, Cucurova University, Turkey.

Georgios Kountios, International Hellenic University, Greece.

Georgia Koutouzidou, University of Western Macedonia, Greece.

Stavriani Koutsou, International Hellenic University, Greece.

Leonidas Sotirios Kyrgiakos, University of Thessaly, Greece.

Marta Ladanyi, Szent István University, Hungary.

Sanja Lazic, University of Novi Sad, Serbia.

Chrisovalantis Malesios, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.

Daniel Martin Collado, CITA, Spain.

Katerina Melfou, University of Western Macedonia, Greece.

Romain Melot, INRAE, France.

Vojtech Merunka, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Czechia.

Anastasios Michailidis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

André Miralles, Irstea, France.

Jorge Mongil Manso, Catholic University of Avila, Spain.

Christina Moulogianni, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Dimitrios Natos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Maria Ntaliani, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.

Jason Papathanasiou, University of Macedonia, Greece.

Nikos Petrelis, University of Peloponnese, Greece.

Radu Rosca, University of Agricultural Sciences Iasi, Romania.

Vagis Samathrakis, International Hellenic University, Greece.

Daniele Sarri, Firenze University, Italy.

Panagiota Sergaki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Ioanna Stylianaki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Alexandros Theodoridis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Stavros Tsiantikoudis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece.

László Várallyai, University of Debrecen, Hungary.

George Vlontzos, University of Thessaly, Greece.

Sotiria Vouraki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

3. Conference Sessions/Topics/Program

3.1. Sessions

The conference was divided into nine sessions, as follows:

• Session 1: Sustainable systems and use of resources.
• Session 2: Innovative products and systems.
• Session 3: Livestock and aquatic production systems.
• Session 4: Training and advisory for efficient management.
• Session 5: Environmental preferences.
• Session 6: Digital tools—Crop and tree production.
• Session 7: Digital tools.
• Session 8: Transforming agriculture in North African countries through agroecology-inspired practices.
• Session 9: Identification and evaluation of native wine grape varieties and the unique characteristics of their produced products.

3.2. Topics

The following topics were discussed:

• ICT applications and digitalization:

  ○

  Database systems and data mining/data recording systems.

  ○

  Decision support systems.

  ○

  e-Business, e-Commerce, e-Sales, e-Marketing, and e-Services.

  ○

  Information systems and web applications/digital farming.

  ○

  Internet of Things, sensors, RFID, and mobile/wireless network applications.

  ○

  Precision Technologies: crop and livestock production; farm and animal health monitoring.

• Rural development, knowledge, and innovation:

  ○

  Alternative (sustainable) tourism and promotion of rural areas;

  ○

  e-Networking, collective actions, and e-governance in rural areas;

  ○

  AKIS: Farm education, training and advisory, e-learning, interactive, and web-based systems;

  ○

  Innovation in farms and rural areas;

  ○

  Sustainability and resilience of rural areas and agri-food systems.

• Farm management/crop and livestock production:

  ○

  Agro-ecological transition;

  ○

  Crop and livestock breeding/local varieties, breeds, and landraces;

  ○

  Epidemics modeling; animal health monitoring;

  ○

  Fisheries, aquaculture, and blue growth;

  ○

  Apiculture;

  ○

  Genomics and biotechnologies in farming, livestock production, and forestry;

  ○

  Sustainable crop and livestock production.

• Agri-food systems—circular economy:

  ○

  Alternative protein sources;

  ○

  Food waste;

  ○

  Sustainable food value chains;

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  Innovations in food hygiene and high-quality food;

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  Innovative uses of agricultural by-products and waste management;

  ○

  Novel agri-food systems;

  ○

  Quality assurance, authenticity, and traceability of food products;

  ○

  Supply chain management and logistics/local products and short value chains.

• Environment/climate change:

  ○

  Climate change modeling/climate vulnerability, adaptation, and mitigation;

  ○

  Environmental design and policy;

  ○

  Regulation of GHG emissions;

  ○

  Spatial analysis, landscape planning, and GIS-based analysis;

  ○

  Sustainable forestry, wood technology, and wood products;

  ○

  Sustainable management of natural resources/ecosystem services;

  ○

  Wildfire Risk assessment and prevention/wildlife management and protection.

• Water resources:

  ○

  Irrigation technologies and water resources monitoring;

  ○

  Sustainable water resources management;

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  Non-conventional water: water harvesting, water purification, desalination and re-use technologies.

3.3. Program (All Times EEST)

• Thursday, 17 October 2024:

•

15:00–15:30: Check-in.

•

15:30–17:10: Session 1: Sustainable systems and use of resources.

•

17:10–17:40: Coffee break.

•

17:40–19:30: Session 2: Innovative products and systems.

• Friday, 18 October 2024:

•

08:30–09:00: Check-in.

•

09:00–09:15: Opening.

•

09:15–10:15: Keynote.

•

10:15–11:45: Session 3: Livestock and aquatic production systems.

•

11:45–12:15: Coffee Break.

•

12:15–13:55: Session 4: Training and advisory for efficient management.

•

13:55–14:55: Lunch.

•

14:55–16:35: Session 5: Environmental preferences.

• Saturday, 19 October 2024:

•

08:30–09:00: Check-in.

•

09:00–10:40: Session 6: Digital tools—Crop and tree production.

•

10:40–12:20: Session 7: Digital tools.

•

12:20–12:50: Coffee Break.

•

12:50–13:50: Session 8: Transforming agriculture in North African countries through agroecology-inspired practices.

•

13:50–14:00: Conference Conclusions and Closing.

•

14:00–15:00: Lunch.

• Sunday, 20 October 2024:

•

09:00–16:00: e-Posters Session.

•

16:00–17:00: Session 9: Identification and evaluation of native wine grape varieties and the unique characteristics of their produced products.

4. Conference Speakers

Dr. Samir Mili, Senior Researcher and Director of the Department of Applied Economics and Geography at the National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain, ‘Innovation and digital transformation in the agri-food sector: What is the role of Common Agricultural Policy?’ (keynote).

5. Sponsors

We would like to thank ScientAct S.A. (Figure 1) and Samos Wines (Figure 2) for sponsoring this conference.