Through intelligent and science-based solutions, the project will contribute to the overall preparedness of society for the second wave of COVID-19, or other similar pandemic situation in the future, which cannot be excluded in the context of existing global challenges and trends. The aim is to create a knowledge base for preparedness and effective use of the potential of the agricultural sector to combat the Corona virus pandemic and similar pandemics by increasing the production of functional foods that increase population immunity and a systemic solution to food security for pandemic crisis conditions. The project addresses the issue of increasing society’s preparedness for the situation at three levels:1. Strengthening immunity and the general health status of the population through food intake, with an increased proportion of immunostimulative, antiviral and antioxidant components based on local, readily available mainly plant resources.2. Establishment of a departmental reference laboratory for research on viral diseases and viruses in the food chain3. Creation of scientifically justified models and algorithms for managing and ensuring the nutrition of the population in crisis situations caused by the pandemic – the project will be solved at the workplaces of the NPPC Research Institutes (Bratislava, Piešt’any, Lužianky, B.Bystrica, Trebišov, Modra, Lehnice) without direct partnership, in close cooperation with farmers, food producers and their organisations at national and regional level, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic. The participation of enterprises in the solution consists mainly in providing raw materials for pilot experiments, space and personal for operational experiments. Their activity will be financed from their own resources. The expected result of the project will be patent-protected prototypes of functional foods supporting immunity as an offer of practice in the form of technological and product documentation, functional laboratory for research of disruptive infections in the food chain, database of validated data on nutritional need and production potential of the Slovak Republic to ensure nutritional requirements in crisis situations caused by the pandemic, models and algorithms of procedures for dealing with pandemic situations at state and regional level. The project will be implemented as independent research and development in the form of one main activity in the eligible territory called Minimisation of the impacts of COVID 19 through targeted nutrition, efficient use of information and logistical capacities in the affected locations outside the eligible territory and one main activity.
