Healthy, sustainable and resilient cropping systems

Towards healthy, sustainable and resilient crops

Why do research and innovation on healthy, sustainable, and resilient cropping systems matter?

Keeping healthy, sustainable, and resilient cropping systems is increasingly complex due to the unprecedented, combined pressures of climate change, biodiversity loss, demographic shifts, economic strains and geopolitical uncertainties. Extreme weather, water scarcity, and new and reemerging pests threaten food production leading to significant economic, social, and environmental impacts. These challenges are particularly critical for European agriculture and forestry, which must be equipped to safeguard food security, reduce dependencies on external inputs, and ensure their essential functions, resilience, and sustainability.

Plant health

Research and innovation are essential in tackling interconnected issues such as climate change, pests, diseases, and environmental degradation. By adopting a holistic and knowledge-driven approach, we can address the increasing risks to plant health, which threaten agricultural sustainability, biodiversity, and food security. Innovations in pest and disease management, early detection, risk strategies, and integrated approaches are crucial for preventing and controlling new and reemerging threats.

Plant breeding and genetic resources

Genetic diversity is key to ensuring crop resilience and food security against evolving biotic and abiotic threats. Expanding the genetic base through breeding and the introduction of new crops is essential. Research efforts focus on preserving genetic diversity, making it accessible to breeders, farmers, and consumers, thereby supporting sustainable agricultural practices.

Protein crops including legumes

Protein crops, like legumes, are vital for environmental sustainability and agricultural resilience. They naturally enrich the soil, reduce the need for synthetic fertilisers, and enhance biodiversity. Expanding local production of protein crops in the EU can help address the plant protein deficit, improve self-sufficiency, and meet the growing demand for healthier diets. Overcoming existing barriers is crucial for establishing a sustainable and competitive plant protein sector in Europe.

Research and innovation are vital to maintain cropping systems in challenging environments while striving for a sustainable, climate-neutral and biodiversity-friendly farming system.

Research in action

Advancing Integrated Pest Management and innovative crop protection solutions

Research and innovation are key to develop and demonstrate practical integrated pest management (IPM) solutions for farmers. Innovative approaches to crop protection are being explored through various EU-funded projects like Sagropia and NextGenBioPest.

IPMWorks project has established a European network of farmers and advisers to showcase cost-effective IPM strategies, has been published to share insights and best practices, while the project AdvisoryNetPest, is strengthening a network of advisory services across the EU, fostering knowledge exchange and driving innovative solutions for crop protection.

Conserwa, Agrosus, and GOOD are advancing sustainable weed control methods, continuing the efforts of IWMPraise. The Oper8 thematic network collects and analyses non-chemical weed solutions, widely disseminating these findings to farmers and advisers.

The AdoptIPM project aims to optimise existing IPM tools, develop new ones, and design cost-effective, environmentally sound IPM packages for broader adoption.

Practical knowledge and innovative solutions are shared with advisers and farmers through thematic networks like RENOVATE, which provides training experiences and fosters networking for farmers in the field of sustainable crop management.

Related links

Summary factsheets on EU funded Integrated Pest Management projects

Tackling emerging threats to plant health

Emerging plant pests and diseases threaten food security, agricultural sustainability and biodiversity.

EU-funded projects such as REACT, Patafest, Nem-Emerge, POMATO, CITRUSBUSTERS, EUFAWReady and BeXyl are addressing these challenges by developing tools for the early detection, prevention, monitoring, and management of critical plant pests. These initiatives aim to reduce the impact on key crops across Europe, supporting EU Plant Health efforts.

Projects like PurPest, Forsaid, Stella and Cerberus are advancing early detection through digital technologies, improving surveillance and supporting plant and forest health efforts in the EU.

Plant breeding for climate resilience and sustainable agriculture

Plant breeding innovation contributes to the growth of sustainable agriculture production and securing Europe’s food supply.

• Root2Res, BarleyMicroBreed and BOLERO aim to devise breeding strategies for climate-resilient crops optimising the root-microbiome interaction.
• IPMorama, SHIELD4Grape and GrapeBreed4IPM aim to develop plant varieties resistant to pests and diseases, which support integrated pest management (IPM) and reduce dependence on chemical pesticides.
• BELIS and Legume Generation promote legume breeding to foster EU-grown plant proteins for a sustainable, resilient and competitive European legume sector.
• Liveseeding focuses on delivering high quality organic seeds of diverse cultivars for organic farming. InnObreed seeks to improve the performance of organic breeding in the fruit sector, while OrganicYieldsUp boosts yields within organic systems.

Support to conservation and use of plant genetic resources

Plant genetic resources are crucial for strengthening agricultural resilience. Their vast range of traits and their adaptability are key to broadening the genetic bases of cultivated crops and facilitate faster adaptation to climatic challenges. However, current trends in global erosion and loss of genetic diversity increase agricultural vulnerability and reduce options for the future.

• BreedingValue, GEN4OLIVE and Harnesstom actively used genetic resources to broaden the genetic base of crops and create new breeding opportunities.
• INCREASE enhances access, management and use of legume genetic resources.
• PRO-WILD and FRUITDIV target the conservation and effective use of Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) – the wild cousins of cultivated crops- in breeding and farming, focusing respectively on arable crops and fruit trees.
• COUSIN aims to showcase the direct application of CWRs in the development of market-ready and climate change resilient crops.

Crop diversification

Improving local breeds and crops provides opportunities for diversification in agriculture along with new openings for regional, high-quality products and economic development.

Projects like Biovalue, Radiant, CropDiva and Divinfood focus on conserving biodiversity while creating value through the promotion of underutilised crops and landraces. ROTATES and Prosper will promote minor crops in farming systems.

These projects aim to introduce genetically diverse crops to the value chain and to bolster the link between biodiversity, the agro-food value chain, the environment, consumers and health, paving the way for local crop diversification.

Sustainable protein crop systems

The potential of protein crops

Validating and demonstrating the potential of protein crops in terms of social, economic, environmental, climate and health benefits, is key to enhance their uptake and integration across European production systems.

VALPROPATH is working in five different pedo-climatic areas of Europe, to create resilient plant protein supply chains by enhancing the production, processing, manufacturing and marketing of grain legumes. VALPRO Path has developed a Story Map to highlight existing gaps and barriers across the grain legume value chain at European level, while also providing essential regional insights.

Protein crops and ecosystem services

Legumes are protein crops that provide multiple ecosystem services that are essential to the resilience of farming systems, including soil fertility improvement through biological nitrogen fixation, biodiversity enhancement, carbon sequestration, and pest and disease regulation.

LEGENDARY, LEGUMES, and VALERECO, are working on valorising the diverse ecosystem services provided by legume crops (including minor crops) and will provide tools for guiding farmers and advisors in legume adoption and best practices.

Together, these projects aim to promote more sustainable and resilient plant-protein cropping systems and supply chains in Europe.

Intercropping

The projects LEGUMINOSE and IntercropValuES are focusing on intercropping as a strategy to diversify farming systems. They aim to improve productivity, biodiversity, and environmental sustainability by integrating legumes with other crops, thereby reducing reliance on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.

Cropping systems in EIP-AGRI

• Focus Group 51: Crop associations including Milpa and protein crops
• Focus Group 53: Production of protein crops under climate change
• Focus Group 54: Local perennial plant genetic resources in view of climate change and biodiversity loss