SolACE – Novel Solutions for Improving Agroecosystem and Crop Efficiency for Water and Nutrient Use : a European, Multi-Actor Project Emphasizing Belowground Traits and Interactions
2JHI, The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie Dundee, Scotland, UK
3UCL, Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
4AIT, Austrian Institute of Technology, Tulln, Austria
5CREA, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops, Foggia, Italy
6University of Newcastle, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle, UK
7FiBL, Department of Extension, Training and Communication, Frick, Switzerland
Projected climate changes indicate a higher variability in rainfall in the coming decades, with an increased risk of water shortage during summers, while water resources for irrigation will be at best maintained. In addition, N and P flows exceed the so-called planetary boundaries (sensu Steffen et al. 2015), the losses of N and P from various sources including fertilizers being clearly responsible for major impacts on the environment (e.g. eutrophication of surface waters, emission of greenhouse gases such as N2O) in regions of intensive agriculture in Europe. European agriculture is therefore challenged by the need to produce more crops with fewer inputs of fertilizers, especially nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), under conditions of reduced or more variable water availability.
To face these major challenges, the SolACE project aims to design solutions that combine novel crop genotypes and management innovations to improve drought tolerance and nutrient use efficiency in a range of agricultural contexts across Europe. SolACE is a new 5-year multi-actor project, gathering 25 research, industry and extension partners from 14 European countries, funded under the European Union`s research and innovation programme Horizon 2020. It is focusing on three major crops, bread wheat, durum wheat and potato, in conventional and organic farming conditions.
SolACE will assess water and nutrient use with both experimental and modelling approaches. Belowground traits and processes in response to combined water, N and/or P limitations will be major targets. Phenotyping large panels of genotypes will be performed both in field and dedicated platforms, with a focus on root, mycorrhiza and rhizosphere biota-related traits. Including such traits in breeding strategies and designing appropriate tools for this will be other challenges for this project. Finally, SolACE will assess the performances of genotypes in combination with agroecological innovations such as microbial inoculants in field conditions and on-farm.
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