Trained Sheep and a Robot Take Care of the Rosa Narcea Crop

April 22nd, 2025

The Operational Group, promoted by the CSIC General Foundation, has conducted a pioneering demonstration on several plots in Cangas del Narcea, where the use of a remote-controlled mowing robot to maintain the natural plant cover of the land has also been tested.

The project’s objective, co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Spain, is to promote entrepreneurship in rural areas by developing innovative and sustainable agricultural crops as a profitable and effective alternative to attract and retain population.

The first trial of the AGRI-ROVENAT Operational Group, promoted by the CSIC General Foundation, has been successfully carried out on several plots of Rosa Narcea in the Asturian municipality of Cangas del Narcea. It has been shown that sheep trained with a specific aversion process to this crop help preserve biodiversity and the natural plant cover. The other method tested, the use of a remote-controlled mowing robot (Millasur), also protects the ground cover and prevents soil erosion, which is common in steep terrain such as the Cibea River valley where this pilot project is taking place.

Carmen Martínez and Jose Luis Santiago (VIOR MBG-CSIC) in the Rosa Narcea plot — *Carmen Martínez and Jose Luis Santiago from the VIOR group (MBG-CSIC)*

The advantages and disadvantages of each method used on the plots will be compared later.

The director of the VIOR Group (Viticulture, Olive and Rose) at the Misión Biológica de Galicia-CSIC, Carmen Martínez, who is also the project’s scientific coordinator, has supervised the development of the trial along with her team after months of fieldwork.

The feeding control of the sheep to ensure they do not eat the roses or rose leaves, but only graze on the natural flora, is a process developed, tested, and published by the Ruminant Research Group at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and it complies with all animal health and welfare standards. In addition, the quality of the milk from these sheep will be studied to determine whether the induced aversion to Rosa Narcea and grazing in these plots affects its composition and flavor.

Optimizing Sustainable Crop Management

“We hope the success of this project also helps attract and retain young people in this part of Asturias, which is heavily affected by depopulation, a lack of opportunities, and no generational renewal.”
Carmen Martínez, scientific coordinator of the project (VIOR, MBG-CSIC)

One of the main goals of the project is to implement and optimize sustainable crop management methods that are environmentally friendly, can enhance the landscape’s beauty, and preserve the area’s natural flora. The proposals follow a circular economy model and are also intended to be effective and profitable for farmers. The potential use of Rosa Narcea in the perfume and other industries is also being evaluated.

“We hope the success of this project also helps attract and retain young people in this part of Asturias, which is heavily affected by depopulation, a lack of opportunities, and no generational renewal,” said Carmen Martínez, who also revealed that, as part of the project, four students from IES Concejo Tineo’s forestry school are doing internships under the supervision of participating companies and the scientific team.

The other two sustainable agricultural crops being studied are the native Galician grapevine and olive tree, in a municipality in Lugo province (Quiroga), another area with difficult terrain and affected by rural depopulation.

Members of the Operational Group

The AGRI-ROVENAT Operational Group, co-funded by the European Union and the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, is led by the CSIC General Foundation and promoted by the VIOR group at the Misión Biológica de Galicia (CSIC), which coordinates the scientific-technical part of the project. Other participants include the Dairy Safe Group of the Institute of Dairy Products of Asturias (CSIC), the Santa Bárbara Labor Foundation (FUSBA), and the companies Ovejas y Corderos and Millasur. Aromas del Narcea and Ouro de Quiroga are collaborating at different stages of the project, with administrative coordination by artica+i and communication managed by Sánchez Pardo Comunicación.

The total cost of the AGRI-ROVENAT Supra-Regional Operational Group is €615,375.45. It has been subsidized with €598,225.45, of which 80% (€478,550.35) comes from FEADER funds.

First Trial

Cecilia Cotero, project manager at the CSIC General Foundation, Carmen Martínez, scientific coordinator and researcher at the Misión Biológica de Galicia-CSIC, Beatriz Martínez, researcher at the Institute of Dairy Products of Asturias-CSIC, Fernando Collar from the Santa Bárbara Labor Foundation (FUSBA), Miguel Ángel Lorenzo Pascual from Ovejas y Corderos S.L., and José Luis Jiménez García from Aromas del Narcea S.L. have participated in the trial.