The ERA-NET on Sustainable Crop Production has released a report from the Expert Evaluation Committee on the potential impacts of the thirteen projects¹ funded by the joint research call with FACCE-JPI.

• Academic impact was high with 97 published articles at the time of reporting and 203 planned.
  Over half of the refereed outputs were published in high impact journals. Overall, there was
  high visibility of outputs in the national and international academic and scientific community
  through over 40 scientific conferences and other scientific dissemination activities.

• Technological advances included the development of new breeding methodologies,identification of loci and genes for desirable traits, release of novel genetic material to otherresearchers and commercial breeders, together with models and improved managementpractices to deliver increased sustainability of crop production on farm.

• Valorisation was evident in the registration of new crop varieties, the adoption by somecommercial stakeholders of model outputs and novel genetic materials in their breedingprogrammes, and the dissemination of many improved pest and crop management practicesin farmer meetings. Serendipity also played a role in providing two outcomes of research thatmight find commercial application.

• A perceived gap in several projects was the lack of detail in both the planning stage and thefinal report of means of taking any outcomes to a commercial market. The absence ofawareness of limitations to the exploitation of intellectual property and freedom to operatewere also evident.

Download the report here to learn more.

¹AC/DC-weeds: Applying and Combining Disturbance and Competition for agro-ecological
management of creeping perennial weeds
BARISTA: Advanced tools for breeding BARley for Intensive and SusTainable agriculture
under climate change scenarios
DIFFUGAT: Diploid Inbreds For Fixation, and Unreduced GAmetes for Tetraploidy – A
novel Fixation-Restitution Breeding method for potato
LegumeGap: Increasing productivity and sustainability of European plant protein
production by closing the grain legume yield gap
NETFIB: Valorization of fibers from nettle grown on marginal lands in an agro-forestry
cropping system
potatoMETAbiome: Harnessing the potato-microbiome interactions for the development of
sustainable breeding and production strategies
ProFaba: Developing improved Vicia faba breeding practices and varieties to drive
domestic protein production in the European Union
PROSTRIG: Delivering novel maize genotypes with improved resilience and PROductivity
through the application of predictive breeding technologies to modulate
STRIGolactone levels
ROOT: Resilience to salinity in tomato
RYE-SUS: Development of lodging-resistant and climate-smart rye – a contribution to
sustainable cereal production in marginal environments
SOLNUE: Tomato and eggplant nitrogen utilization efficiency in Mediterranean
environments
SUSCAP: Developing resilience and tolerance of crop resource use efficiency to climate
change and air pollution
WheatSustain: Knowledge-driven genomic predictions for sustainable disease resistance in
wheat