CerealMed proposes the valorisation and rediscovery of landraces and domesticated relatives of tetraploid wheat, lentil and chickpea, domesticated and landraces, for cultivation in specific farming systems.
Background & Context
Mediterranean countries rely heavily on cereal, lentil and chickpea productions. Wheat is currently the most widespread crop, mostly grown under rainfed conditions. It is frequently exposed to environmental stresses, with high temperatures and water. Legumes are being grown under rainfed conditions in rotation with wheat suffering from drought and high temperatures and contributes to farming sustainability through its ability to fix atmospheric N in soil, thus enhancing its fertility.
Climate change is already having profound consequences on people’s lives and life diversity of our planet. CerealMed proposes the valorisation and rediscovery of landraces and domesticated relatives of tetraploid (i.e. Triticum turgidum ssp turgidum, ssp. turanicum, ssp. polonicum) wheat for cultivation in specific farming systems. Furthermore, other not yet domesticated wild species (i.e. T. turgidum ssp dicoccoides, Aegilops species) represent a remarkable reservoir of genes and alleles for resistance to pests and diseases, tolerance to various abiotic pressures and good nutritional values.
CerealMed will mainly focus on wheat (with lentil and chickpea studied for their value as rotated/consociated crop) and will capitalize the immense knowledge, germplasm collections and phenotypic data produced by the research institutions involved in the project.
The main scope of CerealMed is to fill the gaps for implementing biodiversity to field and to develop a biodiversity based agriculture system to secure the production of staple foods in the scenario of future climate changes. CerealMed will create genetic and agronomic knowledge, tools and approaches to develop a profitable and eco-sustainable strategy of biodiversity-based wheat farming.
Main Objectives
CerealMed will the gaps for implementing a strategy of biodiversity-based farming through:
1. Evaluation of wide cereal and legume collections including crop relatives for biodiversity restoration
2. Creation of new biodiversity by inter-generic and interspecific crosses
3. Soil fertility restoration
4. Valorisation of genotypes for biomass production
5. Environmental and economic assessment of the different biodiversity-based wheat farming options
Expected Impacts
Success in this initiative will open the door to a new cereal farming system in the Mediterranean countries. CerealMed, in fact, will increase the efficiency of business activities of agro-farm through the transfer and implementation of innovative systems and proper tools. Additionally, waste and residues of wheat cropping will be valorised into bio-based alternative end-products, supporting the development of new economic activities and new job opportunities in rural and peri-urban areas.
Partners
University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, University of Bologna, Beni-Suef University, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, M.P. - Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible (CSIC-IAS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Agricultural University of Athens, American University of Beirut, National Institute For Agricultural Research Morocco, University Hassan 1st, FST de Settat, University of Çukurova
