Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Long-term Europe-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership for Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture

Titre : DiVicia : Use and management of Vicia species for sustainability and resilience in biodiversity-based farming systems

Pays/Région : Morocco ; Algeria ; Tunisia ; Lebanon ; Italy

Date : Start date 2020-06-01 // End date 2023-05-31

Identifiant : 245-DIVICIA
Type de projet : Development and innovation oriented (research) project

Objectif
DiVicia will use the contrasting Vicia species faba bean and common vetch as study cases. The project aims to exploit key agro-ecological functions of legumes to restore agro-biodiversity and improve sustainability and resilience of Mediterranean cereal cropping systems. The identification of a wide range of promising landraces and new productive drought-adapted genotypes of Vicia species will help to implement best practices of rotations, intercropping or mix-cropping. DiVicia will mitigate, through a participatory process, the downward spiral of soil fertility decline and food insecurity, with a major impact on improving the livelihoods of the rural populations. The project consortium will make use of its multidisciplinary expertise together with stakeholders, integrating tacit and scientific knowledge to propose innovative agronomic practices, new local and drought-adapted germplasms, and tools to support farmers in such transition. This will help to define strategies to better adapt the systems to the changing context. Sustainability assessments and soil diagnoses will be performed on farm with a participatory approach.

Présentation
New designs and germplasms will be tested in field experiments to identify key generic rules on the functioning of biodiversity-based systems. Selection and breeding of productive drought-adapted crops will increase genetic diversity and advance the contribution of Vicia spp. to multiple ecosystem services. Tools will also be built up for prediction of soil quality and fertility, and bioeconomic analysis at farm scale. In conclusion, this program aims to develop biodiversity-based cropping systems able to cope with limited resources and environmental constrains while improving soil quality, enhancing food quality and production stability over time, and increase farmers’ income.

Coordinateur : Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture (ESA)
Partenaires : Domaine Experimental du Val d’Ainan (DEVA) Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Biogéochimie des Sols et Agrosystèmes (Eco&Sols) Laboratoire écologie fonctionnelle et environnement National High School of Biotechnology CIRTA Club Semence CSIC - Spanish National Research Council Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM) Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA-MAROC) Mohammed V University Nova University of Lisbon University of Kairouan (UNIV-K)

Financement principal : Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) (H2020)
Budget : 1 000 000 EUR

FNSSA project database