PROSPER will provide sustainable technical solutions based on the valorization of highly resilient orphan legumes (OLs) for: i) diversification in agriculture, allowing farmers’ access to a wider range of selected cultivars (cvs) and enhance productivity under challenging environments, ii) diversification of value chains, promoting a wider range of products for food processing/biocircular economy industries. PROSPER will act in Mediterranean/Central/North Europe, covering different geographic regions/pedoclimatic conditions. A multi-actor approach will ensure that PROSPER meets the real needs of stakeholders/end-users who will play active roles in the co-creation of technical solutions. Participatory Spatial Explicit Information Services will provide on-demand information for PROSPER actors (information/knowledge creators/end-users). Based on Partners’ expertise/achievements gained in former/ongoing projects, PROSPER will develop beyond state-of-the-art knowledge concerning novel resilient accessions (source of agrobiodiversity), their performance under environmental constrains and nutritional value. Technology transfer and demonstration actions will be promoted to share PROSPER knowledge, translated into beyond state-of-the-art sustainable technologies. By successfully promoting the use of OLs, PROSPER will improve crop diversity and environmental resilience, fostering socioeconomic development and sustainability in farming practices across diverse European regions. Direct drivers of biodiversity decline will be understood and addressed. Biodiversity, ecosystem services and natural capital will be mainstreamed in the society and economy. Practices in agriculture will be developed and improved. Biodiversity research and support policies and processes will be interconnected at EU and global levels.

The overarching objective of Farmer’s Pride is to establish a network of stakeholders and conservation sites that effectively coordinates conservation actions to safeguard the wealth of Europe’s in situ plant genetic resources (PGR) and integrates the user community to maximize their sustainable use. Specifically, to address the challenge and scope of the SFS-04-2017 work programme, Farmer’s Pride will: a) build relationships between existing diverse PGR stakeholder networks, and where necessary create new partnerships to establish a unified network of stakeholders involved in PGR conservation and sustainable use; b) enhance existing knowledge of European landrace and crop wild relative genetic diversity and showcase how it can be effectively secured and managed; c) use social science and economic tools to establish the value of in situ PGR populations and individual traits, as well as a cost effective means of conserving them; d) use predictive characterization methods to identify valuable traits in in situ PGR populations, targeting those most vital for satisfying future agricultural and market needs; e) establish a mechanism to facilitate the flow of plant genetic material from in situ populations to the user community, both directly and via ex situ collections; f) develop and establish a durable governance and resourcing structure for the European network of in situ PGR conservation sites and stakeholders; g) promote public awareness of the value of PGR for agriculture and consumers; and h) design and implement a network of European sites and stakeholders that conserves the breadth of PGR diversity found in situ. Through these activities, Farmer’s Pride will result in significant strengthening of European capacities for the conservation, management and sustainable use of in situ PGR as a foundation for increased competitiveness in the farming and breeding sectors, and ultimately for long-term food and nutritional security in Europe.

EUCLEG aims to reduce Europe and China’s dependency on protein imports by developing efficient breeding strategies for the legume crops of major economic importance in human food and animal feed. The objective is to improve diversification, crop productivity, yield stability and protein quality of both forage (alfalfa and red clover) and grain (pea, faba bean and soybean) legumes. Using diverse and extensive genetic resources and taking advantage of advanced molecular tools, EUCLEG aims to identify and develop the best genetic resources, phenotyping methods and molecular tools to breed legume varieties with improved performance under biotic and abiotic stresses in the representative European and Chinese agro-ecological areas. The potential for new uses of forage species for human nutrition will be explored. Searchable databases will be developed or built to host passport, agronomic and genetic data facilitating exchanges and use of genetic resources. The evaluation of genetic resources in multi-site trials will allow to broaden the breeding material and extend agro-ecological adaptation. The genetic architecture of key breeding traits will be analysed using association studies in order to identify molecular markers related to phenotypic traits. Finally, genomic selection strategies will be assessed for their potential to improve genetic progress. Practical tools for genotyping, data management and calculation will be provided to breeders to implement marker-assisted selection and genomic selection leading to the creation of new varieties in the long-term. The partnership gathered in EUCLEG, combining public institutes and private companies of Europe and China, guaranties the transfer of knowledge from research to seed industry.

This aim of IMAGE is to enhance the use of genetic collections and to upgrade animal gene bank management. IMAGE will better exploit DNA information and develop methodologies, biotechnologies, and bioinformatics for rationalising animal genetic resources. It will demonstrate the benefits brought by gene banks to the development of sustainable livestock systems by: enhancing the usefulness of genetic collections to allow the livestock sector to respond to environment and market changes; using latest DNA technology and reproductive physiology for collecting, storing and distributing biological resources; Minimising genetic accidents such as abnormalities or genetic variability tipping points; Developing synergies between ex-situ and in-situ conservation to maximise resources for the future. To this end, the project will involve stakeholders, SME, and academic partners to achieve the following objectives. At the scientific level, the project will: Assess the diversity available in genetic collections; Search for adaptive traits through landscape genetics in local populations; Contribute to elucidate local populations’ and major genes’ history; Identify detrimental variants that can contribute to inbreeding depression; Predict cryobank samples’ reproductive performance; Facilitate the use of collections for genome-assisted breeding. At the technological level, it will develop: Procedures for harmonising gene bank operations and rationalising collections; Conservation and reproductive biotechnologies; A central information system to connect available data on germplasm and genomic collections. At the applied level, it will develop methods and tools for stakeholders to: Restore genetic diversity in livestock populations; Create or reconstruct breeds fitting new environmental constraints and consumer demands; Facilitate cryobanking for local breeds; Define and track breed-based product brands; Implement access and benefit sharing regulations.

Plants are the basis of all food, feed and renewable bioenergy production and are essential for the transition from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy. Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) play a key role in ensuring this transition, as well as food security and climate mitigation. More than 2 million plant accessions are preserved “ex situ” in 410 institutes in Europe and associated countries and listed in the EURISCO database; even more diversity is found “in situ” in European farmlands and wild habitats, where it contributes significantly to agricultural resilience and climate mitigation. Detailed information on “ex situ” accessions is, at best, fragmentary, while for “in situ” accessions it is almost non-existent. A considerable part of these resources could be lost over the coming decade due to limitations in the “ex-situ” infrastructure and management, climate change, habitat loss, and invasive/alien species. The roadmap 2016 of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) identifies a clear gap in the sector “Plant facilities – unlocking green power”, i.e. the lack of a European Research Infrastructure (RI) specifically dedicated to PGRs. PRO-GRACE will undertake the first step to fill this this gap, by developing the concept of a novel (RI) dedicated to the conservation and study of PGRs. The concept will describe the proposed distributed structure, governance, economic plan and scientific services of the proposed RI, and will be the basis for a full proposal at the next ESFRI call. If implemented, this new RI will aim to catalog, describe, preserve and enhance European plant agrobiodiversity, and translate the results into conservation practices and agricultural innovation, and will collaborate with global organizations dedicated to Plant Genetic Resources and with other established ESFRI RIs working on complementary fields. (eg ELIXIR, EMPHASYS, DISSCO, LIFEWATCH, MIRRI).