The identification of new variability represents a major tool to face challenges to overcome global warming and improve farming system sustainability. Turnips and cabbages, which largely contribute to food production worldwide, are native of the Mediterranean basin. Wild forms and landraces grow under highly contrasted environments. Taking advantage of this distribution, the objective of BrasExplor is to collect, explore this wide genetic diversity of wild and locally cultivated forms, after discussions with farmers on cultural practices and traditional uses, in order to promote local varieties. Collects will be performed along the climatic gradient with a precise description of contrasted environmental conditions, edaphic and microbiome composition of the soil. From 100 populations of cabbages (Brassica oleracea) and 100 of turnips (B. rapa), we will sequence (Next Generation Sequencing) in bulk each population for genome-wide scans looking for associations between nucleotide polymorphism and environmental variables as well as soil composition in order to search for genetic determinants of adaptation to suboptimal conditions. These data will be confirmed under controlled conditions for water and temperature stress and in contrasted field conditions for different traits: seed germination, root architecture, flowering phenology, self-incompatibility, microbiota diversity, morphology. Genetic data will be also used to infer their population genetic structure and to understand the relationships between the wild and cultivated forms of each species, the impact of farming practices under environmental constraints. Results will allow development of core-collections for in situ/on-farm management strategies and ex situ conservation as well as for promotion of landraces and for first proposal of pre-breeding populations.

Sown forage mixtures have shown advantages compared to monocultures in terms of goods and services. Among the most relevant benefits researchers have tested are: high productivity and quality forage, enhanced yield stability, lower susceptibility to pests and diseases, reduced nitrogen need, decreased greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). As major outcome, mixtures were shown to increase soil fertility, and water and nutrient use efficiency, and therefore are expected to have positive effects on soil biodiversity and function. However, a better understanding under extreme conditions and drought is still needed in vulnerable climates including the Mediterranean. This is particularly important as, despite the known benefits of forage mixtures, there is a trend in loss of mixtures in favour of grass monocultures in all Mediterranean areas. Furthermore, there is a lack of information about the effects of grazing on soil carbon and fertility conservation in mixed polycropping-livestock systems, yet grazing systems are key in many Mediterranean countries. Here, they are expected to provide numerous ecosystem services and high biodiversity to human livelihoods in rural areas, sometimes remote. Nonetheless, despite known productive and environmental advantages, there might be barriers to the implementation and spread of sown mixtures, and those could range from management difficulties over seed availability to market demands. To this purpose, SUSFORAGE asks the following questions: a) Are sown mixtures advantageous in dry Mediterranean areas in terms of yield productivity, quality, resilience and stability, moreover for soil fertility, health and carbon sequestration? b) Do sown mixtures combining different plant traits ameliorate soil function and microbial processes to deliver mixture benefits? c) Do the benefits of sown mixtures hold under grazing conditions in water-limited areas? d) What are the most important perceived benefits and constraints of sown forage mixtures by local growers? To answer those questions, SUSFORAGE proposes the establishment of 5 Case-Study Regions across a climatic gradient, where socio-ecological surveys will be carried out and 4 experimental forage swards will be established. The swards will include a range of sown proportions and monocultures of the most commonly used local forage species to develop models of optimal adaptive mixture proportions under given climatic conditions. Several ecological indicators will be measured at all sites during the development of the systems: yield; forage quality; water and nitrogen use efficiency by chemical and isotopic techniques; soil fertility; GHG fluxes; soil organic carbon storage; soil microbial activity, diversity and function by phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), exoenzymes and metagenomics; system stability by comparing benefits throughout time. Simultaneously, surveys and socio-ecological multi-actor workshops will be carried out with stakeholders to determine local perceptions on sown mixtures. Overall the SUSFORAGE project will contribute to enlarge the information of the benefits of sown mixtures, particularly in Mediterranean dry areas and under grazed conditions, in a vulnerable region with climate extremes. We will provide a model to determine the optimal proportions of different functional types of forage species locally adapted to the specific climate scenarios. In addition, we will elaborate a socio-ecological model including perceived benefits and constraints by local populations, and design with multi-actor stakeholders how to implement the tested sown systems at large scales in the Case-Study regions. We will derive general recommendations applicable to wider regions in the Mediterranean. Combining innovative methodologies, we will demonstrate if sown mixtures are indeed a solution for mitigation and adaptation to climate change in Mediterranean areas as expected, and the limits and constraints to their widespread distribution.

European pig production faces a big challenge in the near future as stakeholders voluntarily agreed to end surgical castration without anesthesia and pain relief after 2018. Despite public disapproval in a number of EU countries, the majority of male piglets in the EU are still surgically castrated (SC). Two alternatives to SC currently exist. Raising entire males (EM) has been the preferred choice, but meat quality and welfare problems (i.e. boar taint, injuries) remain unsolved. Immunocastration (IC) may be an alternative, but its wider application in the EU is hampered by technological issues and social acceptability. Thus, the aim of our project is to critically evaluate and optimize pork production with IC as an environmental, economic and socially sustainable alternative to systems with SC or EM. This goal will be addressed by a multidisciplinary consortium of 8 partners with wide expertise covering the overall pork supply chain. The project will analyse the consequences of IC for production and production systems with respect to regional circumstances and societal atmosphere. Key issues regarding farm management and related consequences for animals and product quality are covered together with consumer perspectives in four work packages (WP). Three additional WP will integrate the results with respect to societal acceptance and environmental, economic and social sustainability. A further WP involves dissemination of the results and bidirectional exchange of information and experience with stakeholders along the value chain. The project will provide support for pork industry and farmers, but also for the decision-making and improving processes of governmental authorities towards an animal-friendly and consumer-accepted pork production across the EU. Our transnational collaboration avoids redundancies in research, allows rapid knowledge transfer and the development of knowledge-based communication strategies as a prerequisite for the acceptance of IC in Europe.