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 : SOLIBAM : Strategies for Organic and Low-input Integrated Breeding And Management

Pays/Région : Ethiopia ; Italy ; Portugal ; France ; Austria ; Spain ; Mali

Date : Start date 2010-03-01 End date 2014-08-31

Identifiant : 2-SOLIBAM
Type de projet : Development and innovation oriented (research) project

Résumé
The overall objective of SOLIBAM is to develop specific and novel breeding approaches integrated with management practices to improve the performance, quality, sustainability and stability of crops adapted to organic and low-input systems. The project is founded on the concept of diversity. Our research hypothesis is that developing diversity at all levels is the best strategy for improving the capacity for crops to adapt to fluctuating environmental conditions and for increasing yields and yield stability in organic and low-input systems. Diversity is also a characteristic of the consortium members, who bring a wide range of competencies and scientific approaches, farming systems experience, climatic conditions and cultural backgrounds. The partners come from 12 countries, representing many different regions from the North of Europe to Africa and our consortium represents most of the disciplines needed to explore and sustain diversity in the field.

Objectif
* Identify traits specific for adaptation to low-input/organic conditions over a wide range of agro-climatic conditions in Europe
* Develop efficient phenotyping, genotyping and molecular tools to monitor heritable variation during selection. Molecular analysis of functional polymorphisms will increase accuracy in breeding methodologies and improve monitoring of genetic diversity and adaptation along generations. It will also increase the understanding of adaptive phenomena
* Develop the use of within-crop diversity to stabilise yield and quality in the face of current and increasing variation in organic and low-input agriculture
* Design, develop and test innovative arable and vegetable cropping systems based on integration of a high level of diversification in crop management with the use of genetically diverse populations or varieties
* Compare the effectiveness of different breeding strategies under conventional, low input and certified organic farming to set up optimal strategies for the production of varieties suitable for organic and low input farming taking into account the traits which are avoided in conventional breeding
* Develop methodologies for farmers’ participatory research that exploit SOLIBAM’s advances in low-input and organic farming
* Quantify the effects and interactions of breeding and management innovations on crop nutritional, organoleptic and end-use quality
* Evaluate socio-economic and environmental impacts of SOLIBAM breeding and management innovations in order to identify farm business, consumer preference, food supply and legislation related issues that are likely to influence their adoption

Coordinateur : French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA)
Partenaires : Italian Association for Organic Agriculture (AIAB) Organic Research Centre (ORC) Technical University of Denmark (DTU) French research Institute for Organic Farming (ITAB) Technical University of Munich (TUM) Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica e Biologica (ITQB Nova) CSIC - Spanish National Research Council Coimbra College of Agriculture Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies University of Perugia Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research University of Copenhagen INRA Transfert University of Pisa Saatzucht Donau GesmbH Gautier Semences Agrovegetal SA Arcoiris SRL International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) Coordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes du Mali (CNOP) Mekelle University

Financement principal : Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) (FP 7 )
Budget : 7 820 955 EUR

FNSSA project database