CPSBB brings BOOSTER’s maize drought-resilience work into focus through priming research and early results

At the Centre of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology, CPSBB, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, BOOSTER is taking shape as more than a research project. It is becoming a focused scientific effort to understand how maize and other cereal crops can be better prepared for drought through plant stress biology, biostimulants, and priming strategies​.​

CPSBB is helping drive this work by exploring practical approaches that could improve crop resilience under water stress. Among the most promising directions is the assessment of seed and foliar seaweed extract priming strategies, a line of research that is giving the Bulgarian partner’s contribution to BOOSTER a clear and distinctive profile. This scientific direction was captured in an abstract published by Dr Aakansha Kanojia, titled BOOSTER: Assessing seed and foliar seaweed extract priming strategies to improve maize drought resilience.

This work has already started to produce visible scientific progress. During a press conference held at CPSBB, Dr Aakansha Kanojia presented preliminary results from the partner’s BOOSTER research, offering one of the first public insights into how the team is approaching drought-response solutions in maize. At the same event, CPSBB Director Prof. Dr Tsanko Gechev outlined the main approaches and objectives guiding the scientists involved in BOOSTER, helping position the work within the centre’s broader expertise in plant stress responses and crop resilience. The event also brought BOOSTER into dialogue with high-level institutional stakeholders, including Mr Yanislav Yanchev, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Bulgaria, Prof. Hristina Yancheva, Governor of Plovdiv, Mr Ivan Popov, Executive Director of the Executive Agency “Programme for Education”, as well as representatives of academia, research institutions, and the media.

What makes this contribution especially relevant is its practical orientation. Rather than addressing drought resilience only at a theoretical level, CPSBB is examining approaches that could support crops more directly, helping plants respond better to stress and contributing to the broader search for sustainable agricultural solutions. This gives BOOSTER an important scientific pathway with clear relevance for food security and climate-resilient farming.

The relevance of this work became even clearer when CPSBB welcomed representatives of industry, academic institutions, and business clusters from Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Finland, and Sweden. During the visit, Prof. Gechev presented BOOSTER alongside CPSBB’s wider work on biostimulants and priming technologies, using preliminary findings from the project to show its potential impact on food security and sustainable agriculture. This helped place BOOSTER within a broader European conversation on how science can support agriculture under increasing environmental pressure.

CPSBB also helped connect BOOSTER’s research with wider educational and societal discussions. At the Second Scientific and Practical Conference Green Education for a Sustainable Future, held in Stara Zagora, Dr Emil Vatov, molecular biologist at CPSBB, presented BOOSTER as one of the centre’s large-scale projects for improving drought tolerance in cereal crops. The conference brought together teachers, school principals, educational specialists, and students from across Bulgaria, expanding the conversation around drought resilience beyond the scientific community alone.

Through early results, a well-defined research direction, and growing scientific visibility, CPSBB is helping BOOSTER move closer to practical solutions for drought resilience in cereal crops.