H2020 DIVERSify Project: Designing innovative plant equipment for ecosystem resilience and agricultural sustainability
- Type Project
- Status Filled
- Execution 2017 -2021
- Assigned Budget 4.999.363,5 €
- Scope Europeo
- Main source of financing H2020
- Project website Proyecto DIVERSify
In response to the challenges facing modern agriculture, the EU-funded DIVERSify project has brought together experts from diverse fields to improve agricultural productivity and ensure long-term sustainability. Specifically, the project will investigate the mechanisms behind the benefits of crop-plant equipment and develop practical solutions to improve yield stability, diversification, and environmental resilience. Focusing on arable and grassland cropping systems, the project will identify best practices for plant equipment through the participation of agricultural professionals, scientific literature consultation, and experimentation. It will also strive to understand the ecological principles that promote positive plant-plant and plant-environment interactions. The overall goal is to improve productivity, pest and disease control, and environmental sustainability by using scientific and tacit knowledge to address real-world challenges.
Initially, we consulted with agricultural stakeholders in Europe and Africa to identify best practices and challenges in team-grown plants. The resulting partnerships between scientists and stakeholders led to participatory research with farmers and the refinement of best practice guidelines (Objective 1).
The guidelines and protocols were shared with farmers through the project website's InfoHub and are supporting follow-up participatory research by partners. Stakeholder workshops highlighted knowledge gaps in species combinations, planting designs, and densities. We conducted plant-team trials across Europe and in Lebanon over three growing seasons encompassing more than 50 plant teams (cereals, legumes, oilseeds, species-rich forage), generating scientific evidence of the best-performing species and variety combinations under low/high-input management and different pedoclimatic conditions. Data were analyzed to reveal the mechanisms and crop characteristics underpinning the plant-team benefits in terms of crop yield and quality, soil fertility, resource use, pest and disease control, and agrobiodiversity (Objective 2).
This led to a novel concept for plant breeding using an "ecological approach" and an open-access plant trait database to support future team plant breeding. A new minimalist mathematical model (M3), developed with crop breeders, used trial data to simulate team plant performance under different growing conditions and future climates. The model codes and results, along with field evaluation protocols and findings on the best-performing team plants, were disseminated to scientists, breeders, and farmers to assist in cultivar selection and breeding goals for team plant breeding (Goal 3).
Our network of participatory farmers across Europe, supported by scientists, conducted more than 40 on-farm trials of plant equipment over 3 years, with parallel trials at partner research farms. These generated knowledge on the practical management of plant equipment and downstream processing of products. Troubleshooting solutions were shared with machinery stakeholders to highlight market opportunities. Farmers and scientists demonstrated the on-farm trials to farming communities to encourage wider adoption. Information on the agronomic, socioeconomic, and environmental performance of plant equipment was widely disseminated using multiple resources and innovative films to showcase practices that optimize outcomes (Goal 4).
The CropMIXER tool was designed jointly with agronomists to support crop selection and management decisions: a web-based interface allows users to search an open database of plant equipment trials using specific criteria (Goal 5).
The tool is available through the project website; the future ambition is to fill the gaps in coverage. The DIVERSiplotter data visualization tool and a meta-analysis of plant equipment trials provide open-access resources for the scientific and breeding communities. DIVERSify partners actively engaged with stakeholders in research, agriculture, agritechnology, and policy to identify solutions to crop diversification challenges and increase adoption. We created diverse resources for different end-users, conducted hundreds of knowledge-sharing activities, and reached national and global audiences exceeding millions. The Court consulted farmers and researchers to develop recommendations on the regulatory and socioeconomic factors needed to increase plant equipment adoption, summarized in a policy guide and toolkit on the project website. We collaborated with colleagues on aligned projects to leverage synergies and amplify impact (Goal 6).
Global society faces major challenges in producing sufficient nutritious food for human populations while simultaneously using natural resources sustainably, avoiding environmental degradation and further biodiversity loss, and addressing climate change. Agriculture plays a critical role in achieving these goals and must adapt. The pressure on farmers to produce food sustainably with fewer agrochemicals poses a significant challenge to maximize yields and reduce losses, with no single solution. Crop scientists must devise new cropping systems for farmers to increase efficiency and reduce pollution; breeders need new knowledge and tools to develop crop varieties suitable for new cultivation methods; and agronomists need knowledge about managing these cropping systems. Scientists recognize that agriculture could learn from ecology: natural habitats with high levels of biodiversity often show greater productivity and resource efficiency and are less prone to environmental stresses. The ecological principles used to identify plant traits and mechanisms that enhance the functioning of biodiverse systems could be applied to optimize multispecies crops, or "plant teams." Plant teams offer a promising solution to stagnant crop yields and interannual yield instability, especially in a changing climate. Plant teams that can be grown with limited pesticide use will benefit society through less pesticide residues in the environment and agricultural products. Plant teams that are less reliant on agrochemical inputs will help farmers address challenges arising from pesticide phase-out and the carbon cost of fertilizers. DIVERSify aims to promote more widespread cultivation of plant teams containing legumes, increasing the availability of plant protein for healthy and nutritious diets.
The overall goal of DIVERSify was to provide a novel system for sustainable crop production by developing "plant teams" of arable and grassland crops with increased productivity, pest and disease control, and environmental benefits.
The six objectives were:
- Identify current best practices for plant equipment.
- Determine the mechanisms that promote positive interactions between crops and between crops and the environment.
- Design improved plant kits and identify potential breeding targets for crops used in plant kits.
- Work with growers to test plant equipment and management.
- Construct a decision-making aid for plant equipment selection and agronomy.
- Working with stakeholders for participatory knowledge sharing.
DIVERSify's work has shown that optimized team farming diversifies the crop and the farming system, leading to higher productivity, greater agrobiodiversity, improved ecosystem services, and, in some cases, lower risks of environmental stress. It also provides the opportunity to diversify income by innovating with stakeholders along the value chain.
DIVERSify is a consortium of scientists, farmers, consultants, breeders, and SMEs working together to build a new approach and tools to investigate the mechanisms underlying the benefits associated with crop plant equipment, and the crop traits and agronomic practices that promote these benefits.
Focusing on cropping and grassland systems, the six objectives are:
- Identify current best practices for plant equipment through participatory engagement with agricultural professionals and scientific literature.
- Determine the mechanisms that promote positive plant and plant-environment interactions using ecological principles to experimentally define the underlying processes.
- Design improved plant breeding teams and identify potential breeding targets using a trait-based approach and a novel tool for selecting crop types and implementation strategies that promote yield.
- Collaborate with stakeholders in European pedoclimatic regions and beyond to validate and demonstrate plant equipment and develop practical crop management prescriptions.
- To build a decision-making aid for plant equipment practitioners by compiling trait and agronomic data into a queryable framework to inform crop selection and management across different regions.
- Work with stakeholders and RUR-6 for participatory knowledge exchange between different actors, EU policy and wider society through an appropriate and targeted range of communication media and activities.
The co-innovation approach will enable the application of tacit and scientific knowledge to real-world challenges in team-based plant breeding to develop practical solutions, in the form of teams with increased productivity, pest and disease control, and environmental benefits. The sharing of knowledge about crop characteristics, their management, and decision-making support will impact farmers, advisors, breeders, scientists, and policymakers, improving awareness and overcoming barriers to the adoption of team-based plant breeding for yield stability, diversification, sustainability, and resilience.
A growing population means more mouths to feed, which demands that we increase agricultural productivity. According to United Nations estimates, the world's population could reach almost 9.7 billion by 2050. Feeding these people would require a 60% increase in agricultural production. It's not simply a matter of growing more food. "First, there's the question of how climate change will affect crops and growing seasons in the coming years," says Alison Karley, an agroecology researcher at the James Hutton Institute. "Farmers also need to develop new ways to grow more crops more sustainably, which means using less fertilizers, fewer pesticides, and relying more on crop diversity." While at first glance it may seem like a "mission impossible," an EU-funded project is taking a team approach to find a possible solution.
Through the DIVERSify (Designing Innovative Plant Teams for Ecosystem Resilience and Agricultural Sustainability) project, a group of researchers, farmers, and other international stakeholders have developed new ways to optimize productivity using plant teams. "Rather than planting a single type of crop, plant teaming is an approach to agriculture that advocates for crop diversification," explains Karley, who serves as the project coordinator. "Our goal was to demonstrate how using a mix of compatible crops not only increases productivity but also decreases the need for chemicals, thus supporting more sustainable agriculture."
The Benefits of Mixing It Up To begin with, the researchers focused their efforts on understanding the potential benefits that plant teams could bring to agriculture. Working directly with farmers in Europe and Africa, they identified best practices and challenges in growing plant teams and tested crop mixtures in different locations. “Our trials showed that mixtures suppress weeds, require less fertilizer, and often have fewer pests and diseases, all of which contribute to improved crop production without the need for chemicals,” Karley comments. “Mixtures also increase habitat diversity, providing much-needed resources for pollinators and natural enemies of pests, which are essential for the functioning of an agroecosystem.” The project also concluded that, due to more efficient use of resources, plant teams have the potential to produce more yield than if each crop were grown separately. Making the Transition to Plant Teams Despite these benefits, change is never easy, and plant teams represent a very different way of farming.
To help farmers understand the benefits and necessity of transitioning to plant teams, the project developed several useful tools. For example, farmers can use the CropMIXER tool to get advice on crop combinations, management, and inputs, and the InfoHub guide for more technical information. The project has also facilitated a network where farmers and other stakeholders can share information and learn from each other. “Several pioneer farmers, already using plant teams, have shared their knowledge and experiences and have been instrumental in influencing others to try these new concepts,” says Karley. Paving the way for future research The DIVERSify project succeeded in demonstrating the enormous potential of plant team farming. “Our research shows that optimized plant team farming diversifies the crop and the farming system, leading to higher productivity, greater agrobiodiversity, and more sustainable agriculture,” concludes Karley. “Our work paves the way for future research on sustainable crops and food production.”
Although the DIVERSify project is now complete, researchers continue to develop its activities and results. Currently, partners are researching team-based plant breeding and working with farmers to build value chains around team-based plant products.
DIVERSify created a shortcut to impact by working directly with farmers, agronomists, breeders, and other stakeholders to co-construct innovations, showcase results, create tools, and share practical experiences to expand the adoption of diversity-rich cropping practices. We developed novel tools and dissemination materials for research and practice for plant agronomy teams: a process-based mathematical model that advances contemporary modeling approaches; an innovative decision aid to support plant agronomy teams; and open-access resources for crop research and improvement.
Our participatory approach developed agricultural capacity to grow plant-based crops and provided evidence-based recommendations to promote uptake. In line with our overall goal of improving the socioeconomic performance and environmental resilience of European agriculture, we have optimized a novel system for sustainable food production and nutrition based on plant-based crops and value chains with reduced environmental impact.
- THE JAMES HUTTON INSTITUTE (THE JAMES HUTTON INSTITUTE)
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