Discover the nine nominees | 2024 Innovation Awards

Kakada Oeum (Cambodia), PhD student at UMR PHIM

Harnessing PGPR rhizobacteria to enhance rice resistance to plant pathogens

Rice (Oryza sativa) is the staple food for more than half of the world's population. Various diseases, including those caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes, devastate rice production. To save their crops and increase yields, farmers use agrochemical fertilizers, which lead to environmental pollution, biodiversity loss, and soil compaction. The plant microbiome is proposed as an alternative to agrochemicals for sustainable agriculture, hosting beneficial microbes that can improve rice health.

The primary objective of Kakada Oeum's project is to identify microbial taxa related to plant health by exploring the microbiomes of healthy and diseased rice leaves and roots in Cambodia, cultivating them, and testing them as biofertilizers and biocontrol agents. By the end of the project, Cambodian rice bacterial strains could be used as rice bioproducts, reducing the need for chemical pesticides or fertilizers to improve rice yields and inhibit the growth of rice pathogens.

Ratha Muon (Cambodia), PhD student at UMR iEES Paris

Understanding termite mound sustainability to enhance soil fertility

In Cambodia, termite mounds are commonly found in rice fields, appearing as earth mounds covered with trees and plants. Through her thesis, "Termite Bioturbation in Cambodia – From Characterization to Application," Ratha Muon reveals that farmers value termite mounds for improving soil fertility. However, the density of these mounds is decreasing due to intensified agricultural practices and deforestation. With her project "Eco-Termite: Ecological Management of Termite Mounds for Sustainable Agriculture," the young PhD student aims to develop sustainable solutions to preserve soil fertility and biodiversity.

Conducted at the long-term Chrey Bak observatory and the Cambodia Institute of Technology (ITC), the study includes three work modules:

• Analyzing the properties of termite mound soil
• Determining the optimal amount of termite mound soil to improve crop yields
• Collaborating with farmers to ensure sustainable use of termite mounds

This work is supported by the ITC Soil Ecology Laboratory in collaboration with the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) and the REASOL and ECOTERM projects.

Thai Son Nguyen (Vietnam), PhD student at LMI DRISA

Antibiotic resistance, a challenge for research and monitoring: could electronic DNA be a solution (AReDNA)?

The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in aquatic ecosystems have been reported worldwide. To address this issue, Thai Son Nguyen is developing a tool, AReDNA, based on environmental DNA. This tool combines a multiplex qPCR for known ARGs posing public health problems with next-generation sequencing technology.

The tool's objective is to detect antimicrobial resistance in the environment for "live surveillance," enabling better prevention, avoiding invasive treatment methods, and supporting the One Health approach. The solution will serve as an indicator of the spread of antimicrobial resistance at the interface between the environment, humans, and animals. It will also provide data for further research on the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance and the circulation of ARGs within and between countries through rivers such as the Mekong.

Finally, the AReDNA tool developed by Thai Son Nguyen will assist researchers and public health, veterinary, and environmental stakeholders, such as the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) and the Mekong River Commission (MRC), in monitoring the spread of antibiotic resistance genes.

María José Tolsá García (Mexico), PhD student at LMI ELDORADO

Development of a surveillance index for zoonotic viruses

Zoonotic pathogens are transmitted from animals to humans and have implications for public health, conservation, socio-economics, and politics. In ecosystems, species diversity significantly influences the risk of pathogen transmission.

As part of the LMI ELDORADO team, María José Tolsá García works on the risk of zoonotic virus transmission in bird and mosquito communities in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Her team is developing a community competence index, a value quantifying a biological community's ability to transmit a pathogen. The index's robustness, applicability, and versatility are limited by the scarcity of real local data to know species' capacities to transmit pathogens and test it with different pathogens and geographical scales.

The project objectives are:

• Obtaining laboratory data on the presence of viruses (flavivirus, alphavirus, bunyavirus) in birds and mosquitoes in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
• Calculating community competence of contrasted bird and mosquito communities using the data obtained
• Mapping risks in the Yucatán Peninsula

This index aims to generate a flexible tool applicable to socio-ecosystems vulnerable without economic resources for continuous epidemiological surveillance.

Camila Prudente (Argentina), PhD student at UMI IFAECI

Hydroclimatic early warning system

Camila Prudente is developing a hydroclimatic early warning system in Bermejo, Argentina. This project, entitled "BerSATil," aims to prevent hydroclimatic threats using innovative technology that integrates local actors' knowledge involved in family farming in Bermejo, Chaco Province, Argentina.

The project focuses on the co-production of hydroclimatic knowledge. It combines official monitoring and forecasting data with community data on rainfall and rivers. Using this comprehensive data collection, Camila Prudente is implementing an innovative early warning system to reduce the impacts of climatic threats on local food production.

Pablo Lara (Peru), PhD student at UMR GeoAzur

A seismic data analysis algorithm for disaster risk reduction

Developed and implemented in Peru as part of the Peruvian Earthquake Early Warning System (SASPe), benefiting 18 million Peruvians, the innovative algorithm developed by Pablo Lara in his early warning system, Ensemble Earthquake Early Warning System (E3WS), demonstrates high accuracy in early earthquake detection, location estimation, and magnitude assessment. E3WS results provide crucial evacuation warnings before earthquakes, saving lives and reducing economic losses.

The system analyzes the first three seconds of seismic recordings of earthquakes. It can be hosted by low-cost sensors in homes, schools, or municipalities. E3WS has also been tested in Colombia and Haiti, proving its adaptability and effectiveness in different seismic environments.

This project aims to scale E3WS globally, leveraging its proven efficiency to improve earthquake resilience worldwide.

Waly Faye (Senegal), young researcher at LMI IESOL

INFILTR'EAU: A faster and more accurate automatic infiltrometer

In semi-arid regions, demographic pressure and climate change increase the strain on soil water, essential for crop development and aquifer recharge. Understanding the partitioning of rainfall into infiltration and runoff remains a challenge due to the traditional methods' time-consuming and costly nature.

Waly Faye has developed "INFILTR'EAU," an infiltrometer that automates infiltration measurement. This tool allows for greater data precision, eliminates errors related to human operators, and provides higher replicability in record time. The automatic infiltrometer facilitates measuring physical infiltration variables, particularly hydraulic conductivity, which is crucial for modeling water movement in the soil.

Toky Randriantsoa (Madagascar), PhD student at UMR Eco&Sols

A new collection and processing system for organic waste into vermicompost

Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital, is overwhelmed by waste. Waste management is very limited, with low collection rates and almost no recycling activities. Meanwhile, farmers around the city struggle to find quality organic fertilizers to improve soil productivity. They are often reluctant to use chemical fertilizers and seek more sustainable alternatives.

To address this dual challenge, Toky Randriantsoa proposes a new waste collection system managed by farmers' associations, where organic waste will be processed into vermicompost. Vermicompost, a high-quality organic fertilizer, is highly valued by farmers. Waste collection is organized at the household level using adapted cargo bikes provided to the farmers.

This innovative project addresses Antananarivo's waste collection deficit while sustainably providing farmers with quality organic fertilizers.

Henri-Joël Dossou (Benin), young researcher at the Public-Private Technical and Operational Environmental Surveillance Port Platform (PPSE)

Port surveillance platform for controlling invasive alien species

The Autonomous Port of Cotonou (PAC) in Benin is strategically important for trade flows in West Africa. It is the main entry point for goods to the sub-region. It is a high-risk area for the unintentional introduction of potentially harmful organisms, such as invasive alien species (IAS). Managing this issue is therefore crucial.

Henri-Joël Dossou Dossou proposes an innovative, multisectoral collaboration involving academic and non-academic partners in agriculture, environment, health, transportation, and economics. This collaboration led to establishing the Environmental Surveillance Port Platform (PPSE) to monitor and manage IES. The platform's activities and goals are aligned with the principles of the One Health approach. This project represents a pioneering initiative in Africa, and possibly globally, offering an operational solution based on scientific recommendations (IPBES) and regulatory mandates to ensure environmental sustainability in port activities.