Designing Innovative plant teams for Ecosystem Resilience and agricultural Sustainability (DIVERSify)

Basic data for this project

Description

The overarching goal of DIVERSify is to provide a novel system for sustainable food production and nutrition, resource-efficient production and value chains, and healthier diets. DIVERSify will produce knowledge and tools to support the adoption of productive and resilient agricultural systems which capitalise on the benefits of high plant species diversity, enhance understanding of how synergistic plant teams can contribute to yield stability, reduce yield losses to weeds, pest and diseases, and increase resilience against environmental fluctuations and management practices. DIVERSify is a multidisciplinary and strategic multi-actor partnership bringing together European and international centres of research excellence, farmers, extension services, breeders and SMEs. This partnership will co-construct a new applied approach and the tools to support its implementation, unravelling the mechanisms underpinning the benefits associated with cropping of plant teams (associations / mixtures of species), and the plant traits and agronomic practices promoting these benefits. This will be achieved through scientifically-proven, field-tested evidence on ecological mechanisms, concepts and methods to identify important crop traits and cultivars for plant teams, and tools and guidelines for farming practitioners in diverse pedo-climatic conditions to promote diversity-rich crop breeding and management practices.