Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
ARIMNet2 has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for
research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 618127
ABSTRACT BOOK
Research Projects funded
by ARIMNet & ARIMNet2
Joint Transnational Calls
Action title: ARIMNet2 - Coordination of Agricultural Research in the Mediterranean.
Website: http://www.arimnet2.net Coordination: Florence Jacquet, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA, France). Funding: ARIMNet2 (2014-2017) is an ERA-NET coordinated by INRA (France). It has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 618127. Authors: This Abstract Book has been prepared by Silvia Baralla (MIPAAF) and Fabrice Gouriveau (INRA) with the contribution of the coordinators of ARIMNet- and ARIMNet2-funded projects. Reference: ARIMNet2, 2017. Abstract Book of the Research Projects funded by ARIMNet and ARIMNet2 Joint Transnational Calls. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this document are purely those of the authors and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European Union.
3
BACKGROUND
ARIMNet2 (Coordination of Agricultural Research in the Mediterranean, 2014-2017;
www.arimnet2.net) is an ERA-NET project involving 24 partners (funding agencies and
research organisations) from 15 Mediterranean countries which share values, priorities and
objectives. It continues and deepens the work done in ARIMNet (2008-2013), the first Euro-
Mediterranean ERA-NET targeting agriculture.
ARIMNet2 partners joined forces to boost the coordination of agricultural research so as to
enhance the sustainability of agricultural practices, the contribution of food systems to food
security and socio-economic development, and the conservation of natural resources across
the Mediterranean region.
ARIMNet2 identifies common scientific priorities (Integrated Strategic Research Agenda),
supports transnational collaborative research projects through co-funded joint calls (2011,
2015, 2016, and 2017), and implements joint training and networking activities (Young
Researchers Seminar, Conference on Mediterranean Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation
Systems, etc.).
After almost 10 years of a fruitful cooperation, ARIMNet/ARIMNet2 partners have learnt to
work effectively together and have developed mutual trust and a strong commitment to
continue their joint activities in a long-term perspective to meet current and future
challenges.
This Abstract Book presents the 31 research projects funded through the Joint
Transnational Calls launched in 2011, 2015 and 2016.
New projects will be funded by the ARIMNet2 2017 Joint Call dedicated to young
researchers, and will start in 2018.
4
ARIMNet2 PARTNERS
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
Academy of Scientific Research & Technology (ASRT), Egypt
Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), France
Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement
(CIRAD), France
Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes (CIHEAM) –
Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier (IAMM)
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal
Hellenic Agricultural Organization (HAO) – DEMETER, Greece
Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II (IAV), Morocco
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique d’Algérie (INRAA), Algeria
Institut za Jadranske Kulture i Melioraciju Krša (KRS), Croatia
Institution de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles (IRESA), Tunisia
Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Spain
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (CREA), Italy
Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (MESRS), Algeria
Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali (MIPAAF), Italy
Ministrstvo za Izobraževanje, Znanost in Šport (MIZS), Slovenia
Ministrstvo za Kmetijstvo, Gozdarstvo in Prehrano (MKGP), Slovenia
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MOARD), Israel
Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment – Agricultural Research
Institute (ARI), Cyprus
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock – General Directorate of Agricultural Research
and Policies (GDAR), Turkey
Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (MESRS), Tunisia
Ministry for Education and Employment (MEDE) – Council for Science and Technology
(MCST), Malta
The Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Egypt
6
INDEX
APMED ................................................................................................................................8 Apple and peach in Mediterranean orchards – Integrating tree water status and irrigation management for coping with water scarcity and aphid control ..................................................8
ARIDWASTE ....................................................................................................................... 11 Development of specific agricultural practices with the use of recycled wastes suitable for intensively cultivated Mediterranean areas under degradation risk ......................................... 11
CLIMED .............................................................................................................................. 14 The future of Mediterranean Livestock Farming Systems: Opportunity and efficiency of Crops – Livestock Integration ............................................................................................................ 14
DOMESTIC ......................................................................................................................... 18 Mediterranean biodiversity as a tool for the sustainable development of the small ruminant sector: from traditional knowledge to innovation .................................................................... 18
MEDILEG ............................................................................................................................ 21 Breeding, agronomic and biotechnological approaches for reintegration and re-valorisation of legumes in Mediterranean agriculture................................................................................. 21
PESTOLIVE ......................................................................................................................... 24 Contribution of olive history for the management of soil-borne parasites in the Mediterranean basin .............................................................................................................. 24
POH-MED .......................................................................................................................... 28 Potato Health - Managed for Efficiency and Durability ............................................................. 28
REFORMA .......................................................................................................................... 31 Resilient, water- and energy-efficient forage and feed crops for Mediterranean agricultural systems .................................................................................................................................. 31
SAFEMED ........................................................................................................................... 35 Food safety regulations, market access and international competition..................................... 35
SWIPE ................................................................................................................................ 39 Predicting whitefly population outbreaks in changing environments........................................ 39
AVIAMED ........................................................................................................................... 42 AVIan viral disease prevention and control with plant vaccines for the MEDiterranean area .... 42
BACPLANT ......................................................................................................................... 44 Towards a sustainable agriculture by increasing plant tolerance to biotic stress under climatic change ................................................................................................................................... 44
BEST .................................................................................................................................. 46 Exploring genotypic diversity to optimize barley grain and straw quality under marginal/stressful growth conditions ...................................................................................... 46
BRUCMEDNET .................................................................................................................... 48 Improvement of epidemiological and serological tools for diagnosis and control of Brucellosis in the Mediterranean region ................................................................................................... 48
EMERAMB ......................................................................................................................... 50 Emergent viruses and virus vectors in Mediterranean Basin crops ........................................... 50
7
MASCC ............................................................................................................................... 52 Mediterranean Agricultural Soils Conservation under global Change ........................................ 52
MEDOOMICS ..................................................................................................................... 54 Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil Omics: profiling and fingerprinting .................................. 54
ORPRAMED ........................................................................................................................ 56 Risk assessment of introduction of Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri through commercial trade of ornamental rutaceous plants in the Mediterranean basin .................................................... 56
SALTFREE ........................................................................................................................... 58 Salinization in irrigated areas: risk evaluation and prevention ................................................. 58
STOMP............................................................................................................................... 60 Sustainable Tomato Production: plant defense enhancement, development of new biopesticides and optimization of environmental, water and chemical inputs .......................... 60
BEEHEAL ............................................................................................................................ 62 Promoting bee health for sustainable agriculture .................................................................... 62
CARAVAN .......................................................................................................................... 64 Toward a CAmel tRAnsnational VAlue chaiN ........................................................................... 64
DIVERCROP ........................................................................................................................ 66 Land system dynamics in the Mediterranean basin across scales as relevant indicator for species diversity and local food systems .................................................................................. 66
ENVIROS ............................................................................................................................ 68 Opportunities for an Environmental-friendly Viticulture: optimization of water management and introduction of new Rootstock and Scion genotypes ......................................................... 68
IBARMED ........................................................................................................................... 70 Innovative barley breeding approaches to tackle the impact of climatic change in the Mediterranean region ............................................................................................................. 70
NANOBIOAGRI ................................................................................................................... 72 Plant disease biocontrol by means of non-infectious biodegradable proteinaceous nanoparticles ......................................................................................................................... 72
PERFORM .......................................................................................................................... 74 Breeding and management practices towards resilient and productive sheep and goat systems based on locally adapted breeds ................................................................................ 74
PROMEDFOODS ................................................................................................................. 76 Promotion of local Mediterranean fermented foods through a better knowledge and management of microbial resources ....................................................................................... 76
REALMED ........................................................................................................................... 78 Pursuing authenticity and valorization of Mediterranean traditional products ......................... 78
SEMIARID .......................................................................................................................... 80 Sustainable and Efficient Mediterranean farming systems: Improving Agriculture Resilience through Irrigation and Diversification ...................................................................................... 80
VIPACFOOD ....................................................................................................................... 82 Valorization of Industrial fruits byProducts and algae biomass waste: Development of Active Coatings to extend Food shelf life and reduce food losses ........................................................ 82
8
APMED
Apple and peach in Mediterranean orchards – Integrating tree water status and irrigation management for coping with water
scarcity and aphid control
hAPpyMed
Call ARIMNet 2011
Topic Production systems and their components: Developing sustainable agricultural production in a context of increasing ecological and climatic stresses
Keywords Fruit tree, Ecophysiology, Water management, Aphid infestation, Modelling
Website http://arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-1st-call/apmed1
Start – end 2012 – 2015
Coordinator
Dr Pierre-Éric LAURI
UMR AGAP (Amélioration Génétique et Adaptation des Plantes méditerranéennes et tropicales), équipe AFEF (Architecture et Fonctionnement des Espèces Fruitières), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Montpellier, France
Participating countries
France, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Spain
Partners
UMR AGAP (Amélioration Génétique et Adaptation des Plantes méditerranéennes et tropicales), équipe AFEF (Architecture et Fonctionnement des Espèces Fruitières), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Montpellier, France
Plantes et Systèmes Horticoles (PSH), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Avignon, France
Northern R&D, MIGAL, Galilee Technology Center (SME), Kiryat Shmona, Israel
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Protection des Plantes et Environnement (PPE), Faculté des Sciences Moulay Ismail, Meknes, Morocco
Irrigation Technology, Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries, Lerida, Spain
Abstract
Background
In the context of climate change likely related to an increased frequency of drought episodes, our aims were to gain knowledge on how the fruit tree (Apple and Peach) adapts to water scarcity, to investigate the effects of tree water status on pests and diseases, and to examine how the grower can improve tree water status through irrigation scheduling and/or through a reduction of tree water consumption and transpiration.
9
Objectives
- Exploring the range of adaptations to drought observed among Apple progenies, focusing on growth, and leaf and stem ecophysiology.
- Improvements of water and N management techniques according to their ability to maintain high quality of fruit production and reducing aphid infestations.
- Impact of water availability on aphid infestation in relation to shoot and fruit growth, and plant water and nutrient status.
- Modelling water and N management techniques according to their ability to maintain high quality of fruit production and reducing aphid infestations.
Methodology
- Protocols to investigate genetic variability on young-potted trees and shading effects on adult trees.
- Measurements on the shoots from the 2 periods (Shoot morphology, Leaf functioning, Water management and light conditioning).
- Measurements: ETc, plant water status, leaf gas exchange, fruit and shoot growth, total yield, fruit size class distribution, fruit colour class.
Results
Genetic variability of the young apple tree under water restriction Both leaf functioning and whole-shoot growth were analysed under water stress (WS) and compared to the well-watered (WW) condition.
- At leaf level, a new index (IPL) was developed to measure photosynthesis on a large amount of individuals in a relatively short time which is a crucial issue for phenotyping progenies.
- At shoot level, a large variability of behaviours across genotypes was shown for stem and leaf growth positively related to stomatal conductance.
- A methodology was developed to analyse, for each genotype, the responses to water stress (WS/WW ratio).
- Results back up the hypothesis of various degrees of iso-anisohydry illustrating the ability of the apple tree to adapt to a large range of biogeographical conditions.
- Leaf area and temporary cessation of stem growth are well indicative of the ability of a genotype to adapt to water stress, which could be useful for phenotyping progenies.
Plant-aphids and plant-diseases interactions Three plant-pest models were studied, Aphis pomi – apple, Dysaphis plantaginea – apple and Myzus persicae – peach, on young non-fruiting trees.
- At infestation start, aphid abundance was mostly related to the tree nitrogen status. This relationship weakened over time and there was, later in the season, a positive correlation between shoot development and infestation dynamics. However, infestation remained linked to several amino acids involved in transport or osmoregulation throughout the season. Water restriction uncoupled these relationships.
- A more precise study of sap composition using stylectomy showed that sorbitol and sucrose concentrations increased with plant growth.
- The increase in sap viscosity under WS may explain why aphids, which fed passively from the phloem, absorbed less sap under WS leading to a reduction of aphid populations on stressed plants.
- In peach orchards, decreasing water irrigation and nitrogen input by 25% compared to the crop coefficient-driven irrigation significantly reduces post-harvest diseases with only a slight yield reduction.
10
Modelling water and nitrogen management techniques The modelling objective was to integrate architectural and functional aspects into quantitative models to render satisfactorily the effects of water restriction on fruit size, and of aphid infestations on fruit trees. Modelling was based on the existing complementarity between three models already developed by the partners, MAppleT (architecture-based), QualiTree (function-based) and CropSyst (cropping system model). One of the outputs was the development of a multi-year aphid infestation module which showed that the effects of aphid infestation on fruit production were evident only 2-3 years after the first infestation, confirming ongoing field studies.
Next steps
Phenotyping genetic variability for water stress tolerance in the apple tree - Submitted publications and exchanges with breeders in connection with the Fruit Breedomics European Programme (2011-2015). Apple response to water stress at two main levels, plant architecture and ecophysiology modelling, and genetic determinism – Ongoing research works at INRA, France, in connection with other French and non-French teams. Dissemination towards fruit growers of the emerging techniques and know-how on irrigation scheduling in relation to plant resistance to aphids – Continuous work in the various countries through informal or formal initiatives, e.g. French programme RegPuc (2016-2018).
Key publications
Atay E, Hucbourg B, Drevet A, Lauri PÉ. 2016. Growth responses to water stress and vapour pressure deficit in nectarine. Acta Horticulturae 1139: 353-358.
Laghfiri M., Khalil B., Madani I., Boutaleb A., Blenzar A., 2015. Study of the impact of water and nitrogen resources on aphid Infestations and growth and production parameters in the orchard of peach. International Journal of Science and Research 4: 1542-1557
Lauri PÉ, Barigah TS, Lopez G, Martinez S, Losciale P, Zibordi M, Manfrini L, Corelli-Grappadelli L, Costes E, Regnard JL. 2016. Genetic variability and phenotypic plasticity of apple morphological responses to soil water restriction in relation with leaf functions and stem xylem conductivity. Trees - Structure and Function 30: 1893-1908.
Losciale P., Manfrini L., Morandi B., Pierpaoli E., Zibordi M., Sellacci A.M., Salvati L., Corelli Grappadelli L., 2015. A multivariate approach for assessing leaf photo-assimilation performance using the IPL index. Physiologia Plantarum 154: 609–620
Morandi B., Boselli F., Boini A., Manfrini L., Corelli Grappadelli L., 2015. The fruit as a potential indicator of plant water status in apple. Acta Horticulturae 1150:83-90.
Pallas B., Da Silva D., Guillaume O., Lauri P.-É., Costes E., Vercambre G., Valsesia P., Génard M., Yang W., Han M., 2015. Coupling the functional-structural plant models MAppleT and QualiTree to simulate carbon allocation and growth variability of apple trees. Acta Horticulturae 1160: 61-68.
Rahmati M., Vercambre G., Davarynejad G., Bannayan M., Azizi M., Génard M., 2015. Water scarcity conditions affect peach fruit size and polyphenol contents more severely than other fruit quality traits. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 95: 1055-1065
Rousselin A., Sauge M.H., Jordan M.O., Vercambre G., Lescourret F., Bevacqua D. 2016. Nitrogen and water supplies affect peach tree–green peach aphid interactions: the key role played by vegetative growth. Agricultural and Forest Entomology (2016), 18, 367–375 DOI: 10.1111/afe.12168.
11
ARIDWASTE
Development of specific agricultural practices with the use of recycled wastes suitable for intensively cultivated
Mediterranean areas under degradation risk
Call ARIMNet 2011
Topic Production systems and their components: Developing sustainable agricultural production in a context of increasing ecological and climatic stresses
Keywords Application practices, Recycled wastes, Degradation, Soil quality, Sustainability, Zeolite
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-1st-call/aridwaste1
Start – end 2012 – 2015
Coordinator
Dr Victor KAVVADIAS
Department of Soil Science I of Athens, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (HAO) – DEMETER, Likovrisi, Greece
Participating countries
Greece, Israel, Italy, Spain
Partners
Department of Soil Science I of Athens, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (HAO) – DEMETER, Likovrisi, Greece
MIGAL, Galilee Technology Center, Kiryat Shmona, Israel
Centro di Sperimentazione e Assistenza Agricola (CERSAA), Albenga, Italy
Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS) - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Murcia, Spain
Abstract
Background
Composting involves the valorization of organic wastes, transforming them into an organic fertilizer product without harmful elements for the soil or pathogens for crops and humans. Use of compost in agriculture will encourage the lower use of other synthetic fertilizers, whose manufacture needs the exploitation of more mineral and energy resources. Therefore, using environmental and agronomic criteria, the most reasonable would be the use of compost in agriculture to a greater extent than conventional fertilizers.
12
Objectives
- Assessment of the suitability of characterized and selected composts (quality and dose) for the cultivation of different species in pots and plain soil.
- Alternative fertilization with compost had an overall positive effect in comparison with conventional fertilization treatment with a mineral NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium) fertilizer, when soil quality parameters, the nutritional level of crops (e.g. tomato, cabbage, lettuce, barley, corn) and crop yield were analyzed.
- Assessment of the possibility to reduce fertilizer application when compost and zeolite are added to a selected growing medium allowing comparable level of biomass production (zeolite and compost rate in intensively cultivated crops.
Methodology
The assessment of application practices of agricultural wastes (AW) in intensively cultivated crops and reflection on policy issues related agricultural application. - An extensive characterization of organic wastes to evaluate their suitability for use in
the Mediterranean agriculture. - Pot experiments using selected composts in order to evaluate the effect on plant
growth and soil nutrient status. - Plant response tests where organic amendments and conventional NPK fertilisers
were applied in greenhouse; open field experiments, where crop cultivations (barley corn, tomato lettuce, etc.) were carried out in order to determine the feasibility of composts as alternative to conventional fertilisers in the Mediterranean agriculture.
- Development of an integrated scenario for the management of treated agricultural wastes and zeolites in intensive crop production.
Results
Characterization of TAW - Characterization of treated/untreated agricultural wastes from each region deriving
from olive oil mills, olive husks, wood chips, rice husk, wood bark, grape lees and manure.
- Critical parameters: pH, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Biological Oxygen Demand, Ammonium Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Boron, Metals (Copper, Zinc, Iron, Nickel, Chromium, Manganese), Total oily matter.
- Phytotoxicity tests: in vitro and in pots. - Selected compost types derived from agricultural wastes were used in the trials to
assess the feasibility to reduce chemical fertilisation by adding compost and zeolite.
Greenhouse experiments - Addition of compost and zeolite in the soil upper layer generally enhanced biomass
production compared to the control. Cultivation under a cover, where it is easier to maintain a temperature higher than in open field conditions, allowed plants to better uptake nutrients.
- Soil C content was enhanced by the addition of selected composts, improving the quality of the soil and hence the long-term sustainability of the agricultural system.
- Zeolites mixed with compost significantly improved soil nutrient availability (P, K). Open field cultivations Considering the variability of the results of open field trials, the effect of the application of compost and zeolite on crop yields was mostly negligible. They did not improve crop yield compared to compost addition only. Results were consistent with nutrients availability across treatments.
13
Soil carbon and nutrients The organic amendment independently of zeolite benefited carbon and nutrient accumulation in surface soil compared to conventional fertilisation. However, the Na had a greater water soluble fraction in the treatment with zeolite, in the superficial layer. Co-addition of compost and zeolites did not contribute to the nutrient status of the soils, this result being in disagreement with earlier greenhouse results.
Reduction of nitrate leaching The addition of zeolite caused a reduction in soil nitrate concentration. This addition to the N source can improve N use efficiency. This is crucial in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) where a specific legislation applies to hinder nitrate contamination of superficial and deep water bodies. Moreover, the use of zeolites as additives of growing media normally adopted for pot cultivation can help preserving the quality of water bodies, limiting the negative effect from a continuous nitrate-based fertilisation, normally still applied through sprinkler irrigation.
Soil enzymes’ activity The activities of several hydrolases and phenoloxidases and soil respiration were also increased for the soil amendment with the manure compost compared to the mineral fertilisation.
Suppressiveness of compost and zeolite against certain soilborne pathogens With regards to the trials carried out on salad species, compost and zeolite showed a potential suppressiveness against Rhizoctonia solani at crown level of lettuce and lamb’s lettuce plants.
Constraints Addition of natural zeolite in a commercial field may be cost prohibitive. Countries with no zeolite may focus their R&D efforts at disconnected substrates where the rhizosphere volume is more limited and requires less zeolite addition at an affordable cost. Soil amendment with zeolite might benefit soil retention for some cationic nutrients in leaching systems such as pots or greenhouses, but in the field, with high compost loads, its effect is minor.
Next steps
While the limits of compost and zeolites co-additions in commercialized fields have been identified, guidelines on the management of TAW and zeolites in intensive crop production will be soon published.
Efforts will continue to evaluate the benefits of compost and zeolite co-addition in soil-less setting and in substrate pot media with specific crops. The appropriate programme for implementation of these actions is under investigation.
Our Israelian partner focuses now its studies on the benefits of zeolites addition to sandy soils with special reference to K fertilization.
Key publications
26th
Hellenic Conference of the Greek Society for Horticultural Science, 15-18 October 2013, Kalamata, Greece.
III International Symposium on Organic Matter Management and Compost Use in Horticulture, 20-24 April 2015, Murcia, Spain.
III International Symposium on Horticulture in Europe - SHE2016, 17-21 October 2016, Chania, Greece.r M. I., Katz L., & M. Shenker 2017.The influence of compost and zeolite co-addition on the nutrients status and plant growth in intensively cultivated Mediterranean soils. Soil Use and Management, doi: 10.1111/sum.12324
14
CLIMED
The future of Mediterranean Livestock Farming Systems: Opportunity and efficiency of Crops – Livestock Integration
Call ARIMNet 2011
Topics
Production systems and their components: Developing sustainable agricultural production in a context of increasing ecological and climatic stresses
Food chain from production to distribution: Enhancing the advantages of Mediterranean agriculture in developing products with high added value
Landscape and resources uses for agricultural and environmental purposes: Sustainable management of land and natural resources
Keywords Livestock, Ecological intensification, Adaptation, Vulnerability, Socio-ecological system
Website http://climed.cirad.fr
Start – end 2012 – 2016
Coordinator
Dr Véronique ALARY
Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), Montpellier, France
Participating
countries Egypt, France, Morocco
Partners
Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), Montpellier, France
Department of Animal Production and Biotechnology, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire (IAV) Hassan II, Morocco
Sheep and Goats Research Department, Animal Production Research Institute (APRI), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Egypt
UMR SELMET (Tropical and Mediterranean livestock systems) and GREEN (Renewable resources and environment management), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
UMR Espace-Développement, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), France
15
Abstract
Background
The Mediterranean livestock farming systems has to adapt with complex changes occurred in the past and present history of the region. The CLIMED project objectives are i) to characterize the dynamics of farming systems and identify their drivers and ii) to assess the technical, economic and socio-ecological viability of integrated crop-livestock systems. This aims at helping farmers, local communities, researchers and decision-makers defining priorities and improving future planning to better deal with socio-environmental issues related to demographic and land pressure, increasing demand and strong international competition.
Objectives
- Identifying efficient crop-livestock systems for better utilization of water, soil, crop residues, rangelands(resource utilization efficiency) and increase farm production to meet the rising local demand of safe animal products (socio-economic efficiency).
- Assessing adaptive capacities, vulnerability and flexibility of the farming systems facing current stresses and changes.
- Assessing their socio-ecological co-viability and resilience regarding demographic growth in a historical perspective.
- Developing future scenarios and priorities for livestock development in the Mediterranean context, to increase its capabilities.
- Strengthening collaboration, interdisciplinary research and innovation between and within national teams of the Mediterranean region.
Methodology
- Data collecting: using multiple field approaches at the territorial level to deep follow-up at the level of livestock systems, passing through family farm surveys, changes in the family history and its environment.
- Social assessment: narrative approach and resources dynamics (land and labour); trajectories analysis; resilience by exploring the social dimension of adaptive co-management of ecosystems and landscapes.
- Socioeconomic assessment: microeconomics (productivity; net income); livelihood approach; historical and transversal approaches of farms and their environment.
- Environmental assessment: 1) Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) to quantify the fluxes between crop and livestock compartments; 2) Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) for assessing the potential sustainable use of rangelands; 3) Efficiency indicators based on land and nitrogen management.
Results
The transversal analysis enabled to identify five archetypical farming systems, at Mediterranean scale, to perform a qualitative assessment, from results obtained in the three countries. Briefly, we identified two main trends related to the five archetypical systems. Firstly, we described a centrifugal trend of specialization, toward cash crop (archetype 1) or dairy herd (archetype 2) in favourable conditions, and pastoral meat system (archetype 3) in harsher environment. Secondly, we described a centripetal trend of diversification, maintaining mixed crop-livestock systems (archetype 4) in irrigated areas and agro-pastoral livestock-crop systems (archetype 5) in rain fed areas. Specialization trend is very strong in France, and diversification is most developed in Egypt and Morocco. Those trends may lead to a territorial specialization.
16
Figure 1. A typology of five farming systems in opposite trends towards specialization or diversification, in contrasted socio-ecological contexts en Mediterranean, from case studies in Egypt, France and Morocco.
The issues of crop-livestock integration had to be addressed: i) at farm scale for mixed systems, (ii) relations between a diversity of farms co-existing in a local territory, and (iii) relations between specialized territories. The mobility of the flocks is the mean to organise those relationships. The mixed crop-livestock systems exhibited: i) a good environmental efficiency, recycling the biomass between activities, ii) a good economic robustness due to the combination of activities and the security net through social network. But, these systems revealed low labour productivity and incomes, due to weak access to land and water, the amount of routine work requirement for integration practices and low empowerment through collective actions. Consequently, the reproduction of this mixed system is endangered because of low incomes and the poor social consideration. In another words, the institutions, through policies and planned infrastructure programs, have mainly supported the specialized systems that exhibit limitation in terms of socio-ecological viability.
Main issues of these research pinpointed necessity in: i) Overwhelming antagonism between social vulnerability and ecological efficiency of
mixed crop livestock farming systems through dedicated rural development policies. ii) Limiting micro-regional specialisation process through maintaining systems diversity,
developing instance opportunities in promoting territorial food projects and environmental rules for reintroducing diversity in cropland occupation.
iii) Taking advantage of spatial mobility abilities of livestock farming in the Mediterranean to reinforce crop –livestock integration at regional level. Promoting collective actions allowing a wider range of livestock farmers of hinterlands to participate in limiting this efficiency loss and reinforcing sustainability for vulnerable livestock farmers.
The main achievement of the Climed project has been the constitution of multi-database at the herd, family farm and territorial levels, that constitute available material for development agencies, farm association or decision makers for sustainable rural development in the Mediterranean countries. This meta-database is the product of the combination of collecting methods and types of analysis to describe and analyse the crop-livestock integration models in the three countries evolved (Egypt, France and Morocco). The project has developed a series of indicators to approach the efficiency of crop-livestock systems according to a gradient of intensification and using a multitude of tools ranging from livelihood and micro-economic tools (for economic and social assessment) to environmental tools like the Network Analysis and Life Cycle Analysis.
17
This assessment of efficiency includes:
- Social assessment: labour and land efficiency; coordination at territorial level. - Economic assessment: micro-economic indicators at farm level (net income; profit). - Environmental assessment: 1) Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) to quantify the fluxes
between crop and livestock compartments over of a gradient of C&L integration; 2) Efficiency, productivity and resilience indicators based on land and nitrogen management.
Global finding highlighted that livestock at the interface between land management (local) and livelihood diversification (family) plays a vital role in the current rural sustainability, although its future will depend on the societal challenges and policy orientation between employment, food security and resources management. Moreover, the function of livestock in biomass management appears crucial for the medium and long-term resilience of Mediterranean agrarian systems.
Key publications
Srairi M.T., Sannito Y., Tourrand J.F., 2014. Investigating the setbacks in conventional dairy farms by the follow-up of their potential and effective milk yields. Iranian Journal of Applied Animal Science 5, 255-264 http://ijas.ir/main/uploads/userfiles/files/Srairi%20(14-46).pdf
Osman M., Daoud I., Melak S., Salah E., Hafez Y., Haggah A., Aboul Naga A., Alary V., Tourrand J.F., 2014. Animal husbandry complexity in the crop-livestock farming systems of the New Reclaimed Lands in Egypt. Revue d’élevage et de médecine vétérinaire des pays tropicaux 67 (4)
Alary V., Messad S., Daoud I., Aboul-Naga A., Osman M.A., Bonnet P., Tourrand J.F., 2016. Social Network and Vulnerability: A Clear Link in Bedouin Society (Egypt). Human Ecology (DOI 10.1007/s10745-016-9807-z)
Lasseur J., Alary V., Aboul-naga A., A. Osman M., Salah E., Daoud, I., Bonnet P., 2016. Sub-chapter 3.2.3. Adaptability of small ruminant farmers facing global change A North-South Mediterranean analysis (France/Egypt). In: the Mediterranean region under climate change- A scientific Update, Allenvi, IRD Editions, pp. 477-484
Alary V., Corniaux C., Aboul-Naga A., Galal S. (eds.), Atlas of the traditional milk sector around greater Cairo in Egypt. 2017. Montpellier : CIRAD-ARC-APRI, 82 p. ISBN 978-2-87614-724-9
18
DOMESTIC
Mediterranean biodiversity as a tool for the sustainable development of the small ruminant
sector: from traditional knowledge to innovation
Call ARIMNet 2011
Topic
Production systems and their components: Developing sustainable agricultural production in a context of increasing ecological and climatic stresses
Food chain from production to distribution: Enhancing the advantages of Mediterranean agriculture in developing products with high added value
Keywords Livestock, Sheep and goats, Local breeds, Adaptation, Sustainability, Socio-ecological system, Collective organization
Website http://www.arim-domestic.net
Start – end 2012 – 2015
Coordinator
Dr Christina LIGDA
Veterinary Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (HAO) – DEMETER, Thessaloniki, Greece
Participating
countries Cyprus, France, Greece, Morocco
Partners
Veterinary Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (HAO) – DEMETER, Thessaloniki, Greece
Laboratoire de Recherches sur le Développement de l'Elevage (LRDE), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Corte, France
Animal Production Unit, Agricultural Research Institute (ARI), Lefkosia, Cyprus
Feeding, Qualification and Environnement in Animal Production, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire (IAV) Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco
19
Abstract
Background
In the Mediterranean region, rangeland and pastoral systems considered as the traditional way of farming contain elements that can be proved of high value under the new conditions, related with the need for the protection of the environment and biodiversity and with consumer demands on safe and quality products. These production systems utilizing local genetic resources adapted to the production environment could increase their profitability through the modernization of the production systems and by enhancing the means of commercialization of the products.
Objectives
DoMEsTIc aimed to investigate the factors that influence the sustainability of sheep and goat production systems, by examining the components of the production systems, the role of local authorities and the organisation at territorial level and finally the supply chain and the factors underlying the profile of sheep and goat farmers, with respect to the chosen milk or meat distribution channel. DoMEsTic addresses the management of sheep and goat local breeds, the collective organisation, factors affecting marketing decisions and stakeholders’ involvement. The added value of the project is related to the enhancement of available knowledge on the components of the production systems that contribute to the sustainability of the systems and the development of new methods and models that help to understand the dynamics of local breeds and their role in the rural economy.
Methodology
Production systems A case study approach was used as the basis for the research work. Detailed data on the production systems were collected through personal interviews with specific questionnaires to the farmers and other stakeholders. This work aimed to define the main characteristics of the production systems and the resources that contribute to the specificities of the products.
Collective organization The map of collective organization was developed by contacting experts in each case. This table registers the different stakeholders, their roles and interactions, the main tools and the main steps identified in the collective action.
Supply chain A supply chain analysis was implemented to identify and characterise the main stakeholders involved in the production and valorisation of the products, and their relationships. The work was based on interview data analyses, for a better understanding of the key points of favourable dynamics.
Sustainability Sustainability was assessed using specific principles, criteria and indicators classified into three pillars: economic, social and environmental.
Results
Farming systems and local breeds. The main outcomes are related to the analysis of the production systems, their values and challenges. The role of local breeds as a link between the production system and the product was revealed through the comparative analysis of the case studies. In general, the connections between a breed and a product in the specific cases were weak, and as a result, the dynamics of the product do not have direct consequences on the management of a single breed.
20
Social organization In the analysis of the collaboration framework among actors, the question of the social organization was crucial in all cases. When local breed management and product valorization are coordinated at national level, difficulties for local stakeholders to get involved in these projects are observed. Several stakeholders with different viewpoints on what is the relevant product may confront each other in these projects. The collective organization influences the orientation of the specification depending on their weight (size, power). When product processing depends on a large proportion of farmers from a single large structure, changes in organization, status and/or practices of this structure can have global consequences on the sector.
Next steps
Issues that need further investigation concern the development of a methodology to identify existing links between breeds, farming systems and products, which are currently described in more informal ways. The comparative analysis developed to characterize the role of local breeds on linking livestock farming system to products, indicated the necessity to increase existing knowledge on actual livestock populations’ management practices. Specific follow-up activities involving the various stakeholders aim to transform the project’s outcomes into development actions, which may set an environment benefiting the sheep and goat sector, as these refer to the factors that influence the farming system, the management of local breeds and the exploitation of the products.
Key publications
Lauvie A., Hadjipavlou G., Araba A., Casabianca, F., Ligda, C., 2016. The interactions between product valorization and genetic management: applying a common framework to analyze four cases of sheep and goat locals breeds in the Mediterranean area. Options Méditerranéennes Série A’, 115: 181-186
Tzouramani I., Hadjipavlou G., Sossidou E., Ligda C., 2016. Assessing the main characteristics of sheep and goat milk production value chains at farmer level: Opportunities and Constraints. Options Méditerranéennes Série A’, 115:163-168.
Hadjipavlou G., Tzouramani I., Ligda C., 2015. The Cyprus sheep and goat sector: Results from the DoMEsTIc project on economics, policies and social aspects. 7th IDF International Symposium on Sheep, Goat and other non-Cow Milk, Limassol, Cyprus, 23-25 March 2015
Lauvie A., Paoli J.C., Moulin C.H., 2015. Managing local breeds: a dynamic connected to livestock farming systems that concerns different levels of organization. Animal Genetic Resources. doi: 10.1017/S2078633614000502
Araba A., Boughalmi A., 2015. Evaluation of the sustainability of the Moroccan sheep meat production systems by the IDEA method. Proceeding of the 66th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP), Warsaw, Poland
Paoli J.C., Viollet A., Santucci P.M., Gambotti J.Y., Lauvie, A., 2014. Towards a better understanding of adaptation of local breeds to livestock farming systems: an exploratory methodological proposal. Options Méditerranéennes. Série A. 108, 501-505
21
MEDILEG
Breeding, agronomic and biotechnological approaches for reintegration and re-valorisation of
legumes in Mediterranean agriculture
Call ARIMNet 2011
Topic Production systems and their components: Developing sustainable agricultural production in a context of increasing ecological and climatic stresses
Keywords Legumes, Breeding, Crop protection, Stress resistance, Epidemiology
Website http://www.ias.csic.es/medileg
Start – end 2012 – 2016
Coordinator
Dr Diego RUBIALES
Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Córdoba, Spain
Participating
countries Algeria, Egypt, France, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia
Partners
Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Córdoba, Spain
Centre Régional de la Recherche Agronomique de Rabat, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Morocco
UMR IGEPP, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
UMR LEG, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
DISSPAPA Unit, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Field Crop Laboratory, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie (INRAT), Tunisia
Center of Beja, Regional Field Crop Research, Tunisia
Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire (IAV) Hassan II, Morocco
Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica (ITQB), Portugal
Sakha Agricultural Research Station (SARS), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Egypt
École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique (ENSA), Algeria
Abstract
Background
Food legumes are annual and multifunctional crops with extraordinary historical importance for the agriculture and the environment of the Mediterranean basin. They are protein- rich and integral part of the Mediterranean diet. Besides, they are used for animal feed and fodder. Grown in rotation with cereals, they improve significantly soil
22
fertility and minimize the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers, contributing to a sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture in the region. Despite the importance of food legumes and the history of their recent breeding, the progress achieved in the Mediterranean region remains modest.
Objectives
The project goal is to develop methodologies to improve grain legume plant material of high yield potential, resistant to major diseases and abiotic stresses, suitable for sustainable farming systems. This is achieved by: - Evaluation of current and historic legume germplasm for characteristics of importance
to sustainable agriculture in the Mediterranean area. - Identification of new sources of resistance to major stresses. - Genetic studies of desired traits and development of specific markers for pyramiding
and rapid screening. - Clarification of the epidemiology of major diseases. - Development of integrated management strategies.
Methodology
Identification of regional priorities All partners prospected and provided the information from their own area. Based on this inventory, a relevant collection of 10 genotypes per crop and country was composed to serve as project field testing.
Studies on stresses Adapted varieties as well as germplasm collections from each country were tested, under both field and growth chamber conditions, to identify sources of resistance to major diseases (Ascochyta blights, rusts, broomrapes, fusarium wilts and chocolate spot) and drought. Stability of the resistance (about 40 entries per crop) was studied in multi-environment experiments.
Marker-Assisted Selection Standard markers for mapping in pea were developed. Development and/or complementation of molecular maps were conducted with SSR (Simple Sequence Repeats) and SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) markers on existing RIL (Recombinant Inbred Lines) populations. Analysis of QTL (Quantitative Trait Loci). Assessment of genetic progress through (i) phenotyping; (ii) classification using anonymous SSR markers; (iii) a posteriori control of presence/absence of favourable alleles at QTL. Marker-Assisted Breeding: identification of markers linked to QTL of interest that could be used for the simultaneous selection for different stresses.
Epidemiology Development of SSR markers for pathogen population genetic studies. Landscape epidemiology study to identify the origin and impact of different primary inoculums on the epidemic development of Ascochyta spp.
Biological control Isolation of phytotoxins produced by fungal pathogens and by root exudates for further chemical characterization. Study of the ability to stimulate or inhibit broomrape seed germination. Bioassays determination of phytotoxic, antifungal, mycotoxic and allelopathic activities of the pure metabolites isolated.
Results
Definition of ideotypes Inventory of existing data on constraints for legume production were constructed with regard to agronomic performance, resistance, adaptability and nutritional value leading to the definition of desired phenotypes for each crop suitable for each area.
23
Studies on stresses Reliable screening methods were developed for the most relevant stresses under both field and growth chamber conditions. Sources of resistance were identified, resistance mechanisms were characterised at the cellular and physiological level, and the stability of resistance was studied in multilocation experiments. The inheritance of drought tolerance was studied in multilocation field trials and laboratory experiments. The pathogenic variability among the disease-causing organism was also investigated.
Marker-assisted selection Genetic markers linked to stresses were identified. RILs segregating for resistances were analysed to test the stability of the putative QTL in different environments and genetic backgrounds. Marker-Assisted Breeding: the process of transferring genes and QTL from a donor line to recipient lines in order to obtain genetic material that fit the defined ideotypes was initiated.
Epidemiology The pattern of genetic variation among populations of pathogens/parasites was analysed. A landscape epidemiology study was designed and carried out to identify the origin and the impact of different primary inoculum sources on the epidemic development of Ascochyta spp. Complementation of resistance with other methods for disease management of legume crops was developed in field trials.
Biological control Protocols were delivered for the extraction and purification of bioactive metabolites (phytotoxins, herbicides, and phytoalexins). Structure of new bioactive compounds with original carbon skeleton was determined. Phytotoxic, antifungal, mycotoxic and allelopathic activities of the pure metabolites were isolated and characterized. Key derivatives for structure confirmation and structure-activity relationships were studied.
Next steps
Using legume-based cropping systems will make Mediterranean agriculture less dependent on N fertilisers and self-sufficient for protein supplies which will consequently decrease its dependency on imports. MEDILEG’s outcomes will serve to accelerate crop breeding and management. However, an effective Mediterranean network that can fully exploit this should be maintained to ensure improved food security for the Mediterranean region.
Key publications
ILS and CSIC, 2015. It’s wonderful to sail the Fabaceous Sea! Legumes in the Mediterranean agricultures. Special issue, Legume Perspectives 10
Andolfi et al., 2013. Inuloxin A-D, phytotoxic bi-and tri-cyclic sesquiterpene lactones produced by Inula viscosa: potential for broomrapes and field dodder management. Phytochemistry 86:112-120
Andolfi et al., 2013. Lentisone, a new phytotoxic anthraquinone produced by Ascochyta lentis, the causal agent of Ascochyta Blight on Lens esculenta. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 61:7301-7308
Duarte et al., 2014. Transcriptome sequencing for high throughput SNP development and genetic mapping in Pea. BMC Genomics 15(1):126
Vaz Patto & Rubiales, 2014. Lathyrus diversity: Available resources with relevance to crop improvement: L. sativus & L. cicera as case studies. Annals of Bo. 113: 895-908.
24
PESTOLIVE
Contribution of olive history for the management of soil-borne parasites in the Mediterranean basin
Call ARIMNet 2011
Topic Production systems and their components: Developing sustainable agricultural production in a context of increasing ecological and climatic stresses
Keywords Breeding, Domestication, Management, Olive, Root parasites
Website www1.montpellier.inra.fr/CBGP/pestolive
Start – end 2012 – 2016
Coordinator
Dr Thierry MATEILLE
UMR Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Montpellier, France
Participating
countries France, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey
Partners
UMR Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Montpellier, France
UMR Evolution et Diversité Biologique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique(CNRS), Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), France
UMR Amélioration Génétique et Adaptation des Plantes Méditerranéennes et Tropicales, Institut National d’Études Supérieures Agronomiques de Montpellier, France
Plant Protection Institute, National Agricultural Research Foundation, Greece
Integrated Pest Management Department, Istituto Agronomico Mediterraneo Bari, Italy
Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy
Département de Protection des Plantes, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco
Laboratoire d’Amélioration Génétique des Plantes, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Morocco
Laboratoire Biotechnologie de la Valorisation et la Protection des Agroressources, Université Cadi Ayyad Marrakech, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques El Gueliz, Morocco
Laboratoire Biotechnologie et Valorisation des Ressources Naturelles, Université Ibn Zohr, Faculté des Sciences d’Agadir, Morocco
25
Laboratoire Diversité et Conservation des Systèmes Biologiques, Université Abdelmalek Essaadi, Faculté des Sciences de Tétouan, Morocco
Laboratorio de Fitonematología, Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible, Spain
Instituto Andaluz de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera, Spain
Laboratoire de Phytiatrie, Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie, Tunisia
Laboratoire Ressources et Amélioration Génétiques de l’Olivier, du Pistachier et de l’Amandier, Institut de l’Olivier, Tunisia
Unité Biotechnologie et Protection des Plants, Institut Supérieur Agronomique, Tunisia
Department of Nematology and Molecular Biology, Bati Akdeniz Agricultural Research Institute, Turkey
Olive Growing Technology Department, Olive Research Institute, Turkey
Abstract
Background
PESTOLIVE aimed at understanding olive tree diversity in the Mediterranean basin (including wild olive), the diversity of soil-borne parasites (SBP), i.e. plant-parasitic nematodes and pathogenic fungi, and the diversity and effects of pest antagonisms (e.g. olive resistance, mycorrhizae, nematophagous fungi and microbial products as future biopesticides). Several new SBP and antagonist species were detected and the relationships between their diversity, olive domestication and intensification (from wild to high density cultivation), soil and climate were established. Wild olive material as genetic added value for resistance breeding was examined against some SBP.
Objectives
The diversity of wild and cultivated olive trees was analysed to understand co-evolutionary patterns between SBP and the olive tree. The spatial distribution of SBP and microbial antagonists was explored to investigate correspondences between olive tree and parasite diversity and life-strait genetic variation involved in SBP communities forced by anthropisation. Resistance against SBP was tackled in order to look for new resistance sources from ancestral olive material and to assess the durability of the resistance in terms of time remanence and of parasite diversity conservation. The capacity to manage SBP communities in a soil diversity conservation approach was assessed considering the very large range of olive production systems in the Mediterranean countries.
Methodology
Over 1,300 soil and olive leaf samples were collected. Olive trees, SBP and microbial antagonists were characterized with morphological, biochemical and molecular technics. Correspondences between SBP diversity and environmental and climatic variables were analysed with specialized statistics. Olive and SBP suitability/resistance tests and assays with microbial antagonists were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. Nematophagous fungi were produced by Solid State Fermentation (SSF).
Results
Olive domestication and breeding Molecular dating analyses performed on plastid genome of oleasters and cultivated genotypes revealed three main lineages and support the existence of three long-term refugia: lineage E1 in the Near East (including Cyprus) and the Aegean area, and E2 and E3 in the Strait of Gibraltar. Comparison of the geographical pattern of plastid diversity between wild and cultivated olives indicates the cradle of the first domestication in the northern Levant followed by dispersals across the Mediterranean basin. These three lineages have provided the essential foundations for cultivated olive breeding.
26
SBP/olive co-adaptation Fine scale analyses at country level as in Morocco indicated that mountains were able to limit the dispersion of nematode species and of E2/E3 olive lineages on both sides of the Rif Mountains (fragmentation processes). SBP invasion processes from nurseries to orchards were highlighted: e.g. in Morocco, very low level of diverse populations of Meloidogyne arenaria, M. hapla, M. spartelensis and Meloidogyne spp. were detected in plant refugia (Rif and Atlas mountains) while high populations of M. javanica were widespread in orchards.
Olive resistance to SBP Host suitability tests revealed that root-knot nematodes developed more on the wild olive accessions used than on cultivars, but disease severity was lower on wild olive, suggesting tolerance mechanisms. Several Verticilium dahliae pathotypes were detected and they were all pathogenic on wild olive and cultivars.
Response of SBP diversity to olive domestication and intensification Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) were used as models, because of their high diversity: more than 200 species were detected all around the Mediterranean basin. Several new species were detected and characterized. Rich PPN communities were observed in wild olive areas and share different species, mostly persistent (especially Xiphinema spp.). The cultivation of olive trees lead to a strong richness erosion and favours high pathogenic and colonizing species such as Meloidogyne spp. and Pratylenchus spp. Comparing traditional and modern orchards, it is obvious that this erosion is strengthened when olive trees are cultivated according to high input strategies (high density, irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides). These observations confirm that plant production is more impacted by the structure of pest communities than by the population level of emblematic species.
Biocontrol agents The effect of various antifungal bioproducts (made of Bacillus spp., Trichoderma spp., etc.) was tested on V. dahliae. They significantly reduced the soil inoculum and protected olive roots from invasion. PESTOLIVE showed first evidence of high diversity of mycorrhizae associated with olive roots. These symbiotic fungi are able to protect plant roots from PPN and pathogenic fungi. However, their high specificity to environments implies to take into consideration the specific soils where the mycorrhized olive trees will be established. Several species of nematophagous fungi were isolated from nursery substrates. These fungi are able to parasite PPN with diverse trapping organs or to kill them with toxic compounds. The most efficient strains for biocontrol were selected, and their production was successfully performed by SSF on agro-industrial by-products (e.g. sugar cane bagasse) at a pilot scale. The evaluation of these biocontrol agents should lead new nursery processes by introducing them in cutting substrates and new cultivation practices for successful adaptation in orchards.
Next steps
Understanding the evolution of olive trees around the Mediterranean basin remains a challenge for plant breeding. Olive world germplasm banks (Morocco, Spain and Turkey) will be completed with wild accessions in order to provide new candidates for breeding. Olive-SBP co-phylogeny studies should continue. That may open new insights in order to look at new resistance sources and to understand how olive diversity may lead the SBP diversity and then their pathogenicity.
27
Key publications
Aït Hamza M, Lakhtar H, Tazi H, Moukhli A, Fossati-Gaschignard O, Miché L, Roussos S, Ferji Z, El Mousadik A, Mateille T, Boubaker H. 2017. Diversity of nematophagous fungi in Moroccan olive nurseries: Highlighting of prey-predator interactions and of efficient strains against root-knot-nematodes. Biological Control, 114: 14-23
Ali N, Tavoillot J, Besnard G, Khadari B, Dmowska E, Winiszewska G, Fossati O, Ater M, Aït-Hamza M, El Mousadik A, El Oualkadi A, Moukhli A, Essalouh L, El Bakkali A, Chapuis E, Mateille T. 2017. How anthropogenic changes may affect soil-borne parasite diversity? Plant-parasitic nematode communities associated with olive trees in Morocco as a case study. BMC Ecology 17:4
Archidona-Yuste A, Navas-Cortes JA, Cantalapiedra-Navarrete C, Palomares-Rius JE, Castillo P. 2016. Remarkable diversity and prevalence of dagger nematodes of the genus Xiphinema Cobb, 1913 (Nematoda: Longidoridae) in olives revealed by integrative approaches. PLoS ONE 11 (11), e0165412
Arias-Calderón R, Rodriguez-Jurado D, León L, Bejarano-Alcázar J, De la Rosa R, Belaj A. 2015. Pre-breeding for resistance to Verticillium wilt in olive: fishing in the crop wild relative gene pool. Crop Protection 75: 25-32
Besnard G, El Bakkali A, Haouane H, Baali-Cherif D, Moukhli A, Khadari B. 2013. Population genetics of Mediterranean and Saharan olives: geographic patterns of differentiation and evidence for early-generations of admixture. Annals of Botany (London) 112: 1293-1302
Chalak L, Haouane H, Essalouh L, Santoni S, Besnard G, Khadari B. 2015. Extent of the genetic diversity in Lebanese olives: a mixture of an ancient germplasm with recently introduced varieties. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 62: 621-633
Gharbi Y, Triki MA, Jolodar A, Trabelsi R, Gdoura R, Daayf F. 2014. Genetic structure of Verticillium dahliae infecting olive trees in Tunisia using AFLP, pathogenicity and PCR markers. Plant Pathology. DOI:10.1111/ppa.12323
Guesmi-Mzoughi I, Archidona-Yuste A, Cantalapiedra-Navarrete C, Palomares-Rius JE, Regaieg H., Horrigue-Raouani N., Castillo P. 2016. Integrative identification and molecular phylogeny of dagger and needle nematodes associated with cultivated olive in Tunisia. European Journal of Plant Pathology 147, 000-000. DOI: 10.1007/s10658-016-1011-x
Gutierrez-Gutierrez C, Cantalapiedra-Navarrete C, Montes-Borrego M, Palomares-Rius JE, Castillo P. 2013. Molecular phylogeny of the nematode genus Longidorus (Nematoda: Longidoridae) with description of three new species. ZJLS 167, 473-500
Gutierrez-Gutierrez C, Cantalapiedra-Navarrete C, Remesal-Gonzales E, Palomares-Rius JE, Navas-Cortes JA, Castillo P. 2013. New insight into the identification and molecular phylogeny of dagger nematodes of the genus Xiphinema (Nematoda: Longidoridae) with description of two new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 169, 548-579
Handdo ZA, Palomares-Rius JE, Cantalapiedra-Navarrete C, Liebanas G, Subbotin SA, Castillo P. 2014. Integrative taxonomy of the stunt nematodes of the genera Bitylenchus and Tylenchorhynchus (Nematoda, Telotylenchidae) with description of two new species and a molecular phylogeny. ZJLS 172, 231-264
Klepo T, Toumi A, De la Rosa R, León L, Belaj A. 2014. Agronomic evaluation of seedlings from crosses between the main Spanish olive cultivar 'Picual' and two wild olive trees. J. Hort. Sci & Biotech. 89: 508-512
Montes-Borrego M, Metsis M, Landa BB. 2014. Arbuscular Mycorhizal Fungi Associated with the Olive Crop across the Andalusian Landscape: Factors Driving Community Differentiation. PLoS ONE 9(5): e96397
Palomares-Rius JE, Castillo P, Montes-Borrego M, Navas-Cortes JA, Lande BB. 2015. Soil properties and olive cultivar determine the structure and diversity of plant-parasitic nematode communities infesting olive orchards soils in Southern Spain. PLoS ONE 10: e0116890
Palomares-Rius JE, Castillo P, Trapero-Casas JL, Jimenez-Diaz RM. 2016. Infection by Meloidogyne javanica does not breakdown resistance to the defoliating pathotype of Verticillium dahliae in selected clones of wild olive. Scientia Horticulturae 199, 149-157
Tzortzakakis EA, Archidona-Yuste A, Cantalapiedra-Navarrete C, Nasiou E, Lazanaki MS, Kabourakis EM, Palomares-Rius JE, Castillo P. 2014. Integrative diagnosis and molecular phylogeny of dagger and needle nematodes of olives and grapevines in the island of Crete, Greece, with description of Xiphinema cretense n. sp. (Nematoda, Longidoridae). European Journal of Plant Pathology, 140: 563-590.
28
POH-MED
Potato Health - Managed for Efficiency and Durability
Call ARIMNet 2011
Topic Production systems and their components: Developing sustainable agricultural production in a context of increasing ecological and climatic stresses
Keywords Potato, Disease management, System sustainability, Biodiversity
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-1st-call/poh-med#presentation
Start – end 2012 – 2015
Coordinator
Dr Didier ANDRIVON
Institut de Génétique, Environnement et Protection des Plantes, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
Participating
countries Algeria, Egypt, France, Morocco
Partners
Institut de Génétique, Environnement et Protection des Plantes, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
École Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie (ENSA) El Harrach, Algeria
Laboratoire de Microbiologie Appliquée, Université Bejaia, Algeria
Faculté Sciences et Techniques Laboratoire de Microbiologie, Université Hassan 2, Morocco
Fédération Nationale des Producteurs de Plants de Pomme de Terre, France
Centre National de Contrôle et de Certification, Algeria
Laboratoire Électrophysiologie des Membranes, Université Paris VI - Jussieu, France
Groupement National Interprofessionnel des Semences, France
Institut Technique des Cultures Maraîchères et Industrielles, Amirouche Fatiha, Algeria
Département de Biologie Moléculaire, Institut National de la Protection des Végétaux (INPV), Algeria
Central Administration for Seed Certification, Egypt
29
Abstract
Background
Potato is a major crop in Mediterranean countries, and a major trade product (seed; early ware) with high phytosanitary stakes. Potato is a strategic crop on both sides of the Mediterranean sea: it is both a wholesome food and industry source, a major cash crop, and an important object for trade (seed from Europe, early potatoes for fresh markets from Northern Africa). From an agronomic point of view, potato is vulnerable to a wide range of pathogens, and as such is subject to many pesticide applications, both on seed and during vegetation. Its inclusion in highly intensive systems (i.e. short rotations) involving (at least in southern countries) other Solanaceae (pepper, tomato, etc.) only reinforces this vulnerability. The PoH-MED project thus targets the sustainable potato protection in Mediterranean environments. The research activities carried out in PoH-MED allowed: - to show similar genetic structures in populations of major pathogens (P. infestans,
P. atrosepticum and R. solani) in Europe and Northern Africa. - to identify promising candidates of natural origin (olive extracts, pathogen filtrates) for
effective biocontrol. - to set up demonstration trials for cultivar choice.
Objectives
The aim of PoH-MED is to provide keys for a more sustainable protection of potato crops around the Mediterranean basin, by: 1) Understanding the distribution, genetic variability and adaptation abilities of major pathogens, 2) Discovering protection means more sustainable than synthetic pesticides, and 3) Disseminating knowledge and building capacity.
Methodology
Research: from fields to labs and back The project relies on research activities starting from the fields (pathogen sampling), going into labs (molecular typing of isolates, mechanistic assessment of defence mechanisms, etc.) or under controlled conditions (temperature adaptation, pathogenicity tests) and then back to trial or demonstration fields (cultivar assessment).
Training and capacity building Training and capacity building were an integral part of the project strategy. It primarily involved scientific stays by PhD students in partner’s labs to learn about new protocols and techniques.
Dissemination activities Demonstration platforms are efficient means to increase awareness and adoption of innovations by end-users. They were used within PoHMED mainly as cultivar demonstration fields, and supplemented the more classical means of information sharing through publications in scientific and technical journals and communications at scientific workshops and conferences.
Results
Typing pathogen populations Characterisation. Pathogen sampling and molecular typing have shown strong similarities but also occasional differences between population genetic structures in Northern Africa and France: - Rhizoctonia solani populations in France and Algeria are dominated by one single
genetic group, AG3-PT. - The complex of soft-rot bacteria in France includes both Pectobacterium and Dickeya
species, the latter genus being absent from Morocco. Within Pectobacterium, the
30
French complex includes P. atrosepticum, P. carotovorum, P. wasabiae and P. brasiliensis (Hélias et al., 201?), which is also present and emerging in Morocco (Kettani-Halabi et al., 2013) alongside P. carotovorum (Faquihi et al., 2015).
- Phytophthora infestans populations in France and Algeria include mainly clonal lineages 13_A2 on potato and 23_A1 on tomato; lineage 6_A1 is also present in France, but was not detected in Algeria so far. By contrast, lineage 2_A1, now very rare in continental Europe, is still widespread in Algeria (Corbière et al., 2015).
Innovative control solutions We focused on biocontrol solutions based on two types of natural products: 1) Native plant extracts and 2) Molecules secreted by the pathogen and recognised by the plant. The rationale is to use these as signal molecules to trigger defence reactions in the plant, able to reduce the severity of infection upon subsequent attacks by the pathogens. This approach allowed in particular to show that olive extracts, and particularly one of the molecules present there – hydroxytyrosol – reduces the severity of bacterial soft rot compared to water treated controls (Ouanas et al., 2016). However, other plant extracts either did not affect or even increased disease severity. These results provide good perspectives for the production of new agrochemicals while exploiting natural resources locally abundant. We also looked for genetic resistance to local pathogen populations: a cultivar evaluation trial was set up in Algeria for investigating the resistance to late blight (P. infestans) in 2015. To survive and thrive, pathogens, like all living beings, must adapt to the diverse environments they occupy. For pathogens, an essential part of the environment is their hosts, and their eventual resistance. We showed through controlled biotests that natural isolates of P. infestans can adapt rapidly to the highly complex resistance of cultivar sarpo Mira, although this genotype is still seldom deployed in agriculture. This fast adaptation potential makes sustainable control more difficult to achieve, and imposes that every new control method be integrated in a comprehensive strategy combining multiple means to prevent rapid breakdown through pathogen evolution.
Next steps
Since the project was granted an extension until August 2016, it is ongoing and several experiments are still underway. We are planning to have the final meeting during the autumn of 2016, possibly next to the Microbiod3 conference in Mohammedia, on 24-26 October 2016. Discussions are underway to assess the practicality of such an organisation. After the project administratively ends, we plan to continue collaborations on population monitoring, and resistance elicitation and management. The joint supervision of Algerian PhD students (Ms S. Belkhiter and Mr L. Beninal) is already in place, and an application for a mobility grant (PROFAS B+) has been prepared to finance the 10-month stay of Ms Belkhiter at INRA Rennes in 2016-2017. Several joint papers are also being prepared, and should be submitted for publication in the coming months.
Key publications
Kettani-Halabi M., Terta M., Amdan M., El Fahime E.M, Bouteau F., Ennaji M.M., 2013. An easy, simple inexpensive test for the specific detection of Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum based on sequence analysis of the pmrA gene. BMC Microbiol 13:176
Belkhiter et al., 2014. PPO Special Report 16: 297-298
Corbiere et al., 2015. PPO Special Report 17: 155-167
Faquihi H., Terta M., Amdan M., Achbani E.H., Ennaji M.M., Ait Mhand R., 2015. Phenotypic and genotypic diversity of Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum causing soft rot disease of potatoes in Morocco. European Journal of Plant Pathology 143:801-811
Raoul des Essarts Y., Cigna J., Quêtu-Laurent A., Caron A., Munier E., Beury-Cirou A., Hélias V., Faure D., 2016. Biocontrol of the potato blackleg and soft-rot disease caused by Dickeya dianthicola. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 82, 268-278. doi:10.1128/AEM.02525-15.
Ouanas et al., 2016 – Plant Pathology (under revision)
31
REFORMA
Resilient, water- and energy-efficient forage and feed crops for Mediterranean agricultural systems
Call ARIMNet 2011
Topic Production systems and their components: Developing sustainable agricultural production in a context of increasing ecological and climatic stresses
Keywords Breeding, crop-livestock systems, drought, farmer-participatory research, genomics, grazing, heat, legume, lucerne, intercropping, pea, soil salinity, stress tolerance
Website http://reforma.entecra.it
Start – end 2012 – 2016
Coordinator
Dr Paolo ANNICCHIARICO
Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria (CREA), Centro di Ricerca per le Produzioni Foraggere e Lattiero-Casearie, Lodi, Italy
Participating
countries Algeria, France, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia, United States of America
Partners
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (CREA), Centro di Ricerca per le Produzioni Foraggere e Lattiero-Casearie, Lodi, Italy
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unité de Recherche Pluridisciplinaire Prairies et Plantes Fourragères, Lusignan, France
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unité de Recherche en Agroécologie, Dijon, France
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centres Régionaux de Marrakech et de Rabat, Morocco
Institut National de Recherche Agronomique, Division des Agrosystèmes de l’Est, Sétif, Algeria
Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie, Alger, Algeria
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per il Sistema Produzione Animale in Ambiente Mediterraneo, Sassari, Italy
Institut des Régions Arides, Médenine, Tunisia
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Forage Improvement Division, Ardmore, OK, USA
32
Abstract
Background
Crop-livestock and feed systems have a huge importance in Mediterranean regions, but are threatened by feed protein insufficiency, grassland overexploitation, decreasing irrigation water, and increasing drought, heat, soil salinity and cost of fertilizers. REFORMA aimed to alleviate these constraints by developing new breeding methods and varieties that enhance lucerne adaptation to drought, salinity, grazing, heat and mixed cropping and pea drought tolerance, and by the farmer-participatory optimization of lucerne- and pea-based crops.
Objectives
- Enhancing the forage yield and persistence of lucerne in Mediterranean environments prone to severe drought, salinity, grazing or heat stress, by selecting phenotypically stress-tolerant varieties and by defining innovative genome-enabled and ecologically-based selection procedures.
- Producing drought-tolerant pea varieties for grain or forage production, by phenotypic selection and definition of innovative genome-enabled and ecologically-based selection procedures.
- Optimizing the cultivation and use of lucerne-based and pea-based forage crops in different drought-prone Mediterranean environments, by assessing different pea-cereal and lucerne-grass mixtures, other mixtures and pure stand crops in terms of yielding ability, resilience, forage quality and acceptability by farmers.
Methodology
Phenotyping, ecologically-based breeding strategies and variety selection Large populations of lucerne genotypes (Fig. 1) and pea (315 breeding lines) were evaluated in several stress-prone agricultural sites. Phenotyping platforms were used to assess their ability to reproduce genotype responses in drought-prone sites, to test evolutionary selection schemes, and for heat tolerance studies.
Figure 1. Phenotyping an elite lucerne reference population (150 half-sib families).
Genome-enabled selection Lucerne and pea reference populations were genotyped by genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) to define genomic selection models for yield in specific conditions and for genome-wide association studies (GWAS).
REFORMA
Other institutions
(own funds)
Drought
Favorable
Foragequality
Cold winter
Drought
DroughtDrought
Salinity
Diseases
33
Legume-based crop optimization Innovative forage crops including pea (semi-dwarf or tall), common vetch or Narbon vetch in pure stand, binary and complex mixtures with oat and triticale, and lucerne (erect or semi-erect) in pure stand, binary and complex mixtures with tall fescue and cocksfoot, were tested for yield, quality and farmers’ acceptance in rain-fed sites of Sardinia, Morocco and Algeria.
Results
Ecologically-based breeding strategies and variety selection Both lucerne and pea exhibited outstanding genotype × environment (GE) interaction (i.e., inconsistent genotype ranking across environments) for yield. That reinforced the need for selecting specific varieties for each country, while limiting the ability of environments managed with controlled water amounts to predict genotype yields in geographically distant drought-prone regions. However, managed environments were useful even for distant regions as a component of an evolutionary breeding scheme that proved superior to the typical scheme based on single-seed descent for selecting drought-tolerant pea genotypes. Best inbred lines issued from this scheme out-yielded evolutionary and physical mixtures of lines. Region-specific selection has produced four candidate varieties of alfalfa and three candidate varieties of pea, for proposition in different countries.
Genome-enabled selection The project optimized a low-cost method of GBS characterization for lucerne and pea, and used it to predict genomically the breeding value of lucerne and pea genotypes for several traits. Cost-efficient genomic predictions could be obtained for lucerne forage yield in favourable or moderate-stress conditions in managed environments and withdrawn summer irrigation in Morocco, as well as for mean yield over several stressful sites (for which phenotypic selection is prevented by high cost and large GE interaction). GWAS identified molecular markers and genomic areas associated with lucerne yield in pure stand and mixture with forage grasses in France, tolerance to severe sheep grazing, and key forage quality traits. Pea genomic selection proved highly accurate for grain yield and aerial biomass under severe terminal stress in phenotyping platforms, while being less accurate under field conditions. However, a model with high accuracy for severely drought-prone areas was developed by pooling data from a Moroccan site and the phenotyping platform. GWAS revealed the position on the pea draft genome of several putative QTL for intrinsic drought tolerance.
Legume-based crop optimization Legume-based crops displayed higher forage quality and farmers’ appreciation than pure stand crops of cereals or grasses. Pea showed much greater potential as a forage crop for Mediterranean environments than hitherto believed. It was the only legume that combined high forage yield and farmers’ appreciation in pure stand, while displaying high values of yield, forage quality and farmers’ appreciation in intercropping. Common vetch was about as valuable as pea for mixed cropping. Oat tended to be preferable to triticale as a cereal companion. Complex mixtures provided no advantage over binary mixtures in annual crops, whereas the reverse was true for perennials. Mixtures of lucerne with grasses (tall fescue alone or with cocksfoot) were high yielding, but farmers also appreciated the lucerne pure stand. Best annual crops tended to be higher yielding than best perennials, and may be preferred for hay production. Perennials, however, offer the advantage of greater flexibility of utilization and extended herbage production (particularly in less stressful environments). Knowledge on best legume-based crops was spread by workshops, seminars, field days and two handbooks of guidelines for cultivation and use in animal feeding.
34
Next steps
Candidate varieties are undergoing last selection stages before proposition to national authorities. Newly-developed genome-based selection tools await future exploitation on large numbers of new genotypes, to obtain further genetic progress.
Key publications
Annicchiarico P., Nazzicari N., Li X., Wei Y., Pecetti L., Brummer E.C., 2015. Accuracy of genomic selection for alfalfa biomass yield in different reference populations. BMC Genomics 16: 1020
Annicchiarico P., Barrett B., Brummer E.C., Julier B., Marshall A.H., 2015. Achievements and challenges in improving temperate perennial forage legumes. Crit. Rev. Plant Sci. 34: 327-380
Annicchiarico P., Nazzicari N., Brummer E.C., 2016. Alfalfa genomic selection: challenges, strategies, transnational cooperation. In: J. Baert, D. Reheul, I. Roldan (eds), Breeding in a World of Scarcity, pp. 145-149. Springer, Dordrecht
Thami-Alami I., Pecetti L., Souihka A., Annicchiarico P., 2016. Optimizing species and variety choice of annual legume-based forage crops in a dry Mediterranean region. In: J. Baert, D. Reheul, I. Roldan (eds) Breeding in a World of Scarcity, pp. 209-213. Springer, Dordrecht
Nazzicari N., Biscarini F., Cozzi P., Brummer E.C., Annicchiarico, 2016. Marker imputation efficiency for Genotyping-By-Sequencing data in rice (Oryza sativa) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Mol. Breed. 36: 69
Zaka S., Frak E., Julier B., Gastal F., Louarn G., 2016. Intraspecific variation in thermal acclimation of photosynthesis across a range of temperatures in a perennial crop. AoB PLANTS 8: plw035
Biazzi E., Nazzicari N., Pecetti L., Brummer E.C., Palmonari A., Tava A., Annicchiarico P., 2017. Genome-wide association mapping and genomic selection for alfalfa (Medicago sativa) forage quality traits. PLoS ONE 12: e0169234
Annicchiarico P., Nazzicari N., Pecetti L., Romani M., Ferrari B., Wei Y., Brummer E.C., 2017. GBS-based genomic selection for pea grain yield under severe terminal drought. Plant Genome 10: 10.3835/plantgenome2016.07.0072
Zaka S., Qadir Ahmed L., Escobar-Gutiérrez A.J., Gastal F., Julier B., Louarn G., 2017. How variable are non-linear developmental responses to temperature in two perennial forage species? Agric. Forest. Met. 232: 433-442
Annicchiarico P., Thami Alami I., Souihka A., Pecetti L., 2017. Breeding, design and assessment of annual and perennial legume-based forage crops. Grassl. Sci. Eur. 22: 292-295
Abbas K., Mebarkia A., Annicchiarico P., Pecetti L., 2017. Fodder pea: a promising alternative to fallow in cereal-livestock systems of the Algerian High Plains. Grassl. Sci. Eur. 22: 497-499
Annicchiarico P., 2017. Feed legumes for truly sustainable crop-animal systems. It. J. Agron. 12: 880
Annicchiarico P., Nazzicari N., Wei Y., Pecetti L., Brummer E.C., 2017. Genotyping-by sequencing and its exploitation for forage and cool-season grain legume breeding. Front. Plant Sci. 8: 679
Annicchiarico P., Thami Alami I., Abbas K., Pecetti L., Melis R.A.M., Porqueddu C., 2017. Performance of legume-based annual forage crops in three semi-arid Mediterranean environments. Crop Pasture Sci. (in press; doi: 10.1071/CP17068)
New varieties
Four stress-tolerant varieties of lucerne, one each for the following countries: Italy, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia (planned proposition for registration: 2019)
Three drought-tolerant varieties of pea, one each for the following countries: Italy, Morocco, Algeria (planned proposition for registration: 2018)
35
SAFEMED
Food safety regulations, market access and international competition
Call ARIMNet 2011
Topic Food chain from production to distribution: Enhancing the advantages of Mediterranean agriculture in developing products with high added value
Keywords Food safety, regulation, supply chain organisation, consumer health, market access
Website https://www6.inra.fr/orfiquad/Projets/Projet-SAFEMED
Start – end 2012 – 2016
Coordinator
Dr Abdelhakim HAMMOUDI
Unité Alimentation et Sciences Sociales (ALISS), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Ivry-sur-Seine, France
Participating
countries Algeria, France, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia
Partners
Unité Alimentation et Sciences Sociales (ALISS), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Ivry-sur-Seine, France
Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari, Università di Bologna, Italy
Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II (IAV), Morocco
Département d’Economie-Gestion Agricole et Agroalimentaire, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie (INRAT), Tunisia
Departamento de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Almería, Spain
Laboratory of Food Technology, École Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie (ENSA), Algeria
Operational Research Department, Laboratory LAMOS, University of Bejaia, Algeria
36
Abstract
Background
Significant agricultural trade between the Southern and Northern Mediterranean countries is a privileged field for the establishment of a bilateral food safety co-regulation, both effective in reducing the health risk and in implementing more equitable economic relationships. Our research investigated the economic organization of fruit and vegetables supply chains in the EU and South Mediterranean countries, and consumers’ behaviours and their role in diminishing food risk. Microbiological studies dealt with risk assessment analyses and the development of good practices guidelines. We characterized the typologies of import chains, consumers’ profiles towards food risks and South public policies to ensure safety in South domestic markets. Moreover, we provided empirical and theoretical evaluations of the role of relevant elements on which can be based food safety co-regulation policies between North and South.
Objectives
SAFEMED aims at analysing the conditions for an international co-regulation of food safety between North Mediterranean countries (France, Italy and Spain) and South Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia).
We developed a multi-criteria analysis to conciliate the following objectives: 1) Ensuring food safety of imports, 2) Ensuring food safety in domestic markets, thus protecting the health of South Mediterranean consumers, 3) Maintaining a sufficient quantity of production, available in domestic markets, 4) Allowing international market access to southern countries’ products. SAFEMED focused on the characteristics of the economies on the two Mediterranean sides and on the organisation of fruit and vegetables supply chains. An important role is given to trade and intermediate sectors. We analysed the value sharing between intermediate stakeholders located in importing countries and local stakeholders. This value sharing is taken as an indicator of the equity in North/South trade relationships.
Methodology
The core of our approach lies on the crossing between the formal analysis in the framework of the microeconomic and industrial economic theory and the implementation of empirical economic and microbiologic surveys.
Producer, exporter, importer and consumer surveys as well as experimental economics are conducted in South or North countries with both common and specific products according to the nature of the issues. Descriptive statistical analysis, data analysis, econometrics and experimental economics are used to treat the data. Empirical studies aim at building stakeholders’ profiles and identifying their role in achieving efficient food safety regulations.
Theoretical studies are built in order to:
1) Characterize the rational strategies of dominant actors in North importing countries,
2) Determine the price formation process in the south domestic market, and
3) Identify the potential link between the export sector and domestic sector in South Mediterranean countries.
In the microbiological field, audits and surveys of food establishments are conducted, professionals receive assistance, food business operators get trained, and laboratory analyses are performed.
37
Results
Regulation in south domestic markets Several food safety regulation regimes exist in South Mediterranean countries: 1) a specific regime associated to domestic markets, and 2) more diverse regimes dealing with export sectors. By identifying through theoretical modelling the potential links between South countries export sectors and south domestic markets, we deduce potential public strategies to create/amplify the spillover effect between the two sectors to reduce the risk in the domestic market. The difficulties in complying with norms and standards in the South are not only mechanically linked to the level of compliance costs but also to the economic, organizational and logistic environment of operators. An effective import safety policy is not systematically synonymous with strengthening standards (e.g. low threshold microbiological risk assessment (MRLs)) but with an effective combination of 1) Adequate adjustment of maximum limit of residue thresholds, 2) Homogeneity and effective control at the European entry points, 3) Public-private partnership that stimulates the coordination of European importers as part of a delegation of responsibility, 4) Bilateral/multilateral agreements between Europe and North Africa to favour the emergence of an efficient control system at the country of origin. Food security (i.e. food quantity) and qualitative objectives (i.e. health quality) are not always incompatible in South countries’ domestic markets.
Microbiological risk assessments Risk assessment and management of parasites in fishery products (Morocco). Epidemiological study on parasites nationwide. Determination of the geographical distribution of microbiological hazards associated with imported seafood: Vibrio and Norovirus from Asia, Listeria monocytogenes from Europe and Salmonella from African countries.
Food risk and consumer behavior Empirical evaluations of demand and experimental economics procedures are conducted to identify consumer behaviour towards sanitary risk: endogenizing of boycott phenomena, preferences between local and imported products in case of negative information on food safety (North), behaviour of tourist consumers (South). Conventional sectors (fruit & vegetables) can expect an undifferentiated consumer boycott (whatever the country of the crisis’ origin), but national preference dominates when it comes to reorienting consumption to a label sector: 1) In the event of a health crisis on a foreign conventional product, consumption moves more towards the national labelled sector (organic product) of the same product rather than to the national conventional substitute of the incriminated foreign product, 2) Local organic products are a safe haven in the event of negative information on chemical contamination (pesticide) concerning a foreign conventional product. However, foreign organic products are never a safe haven.
Food safety policies and North operator’s reactions European importers increasingly demand private standards to their South suppliers who thus contribute to their rapid spread to protect themselves from the loss of market opportunities. However, different private standards’ diffusion rates exist in North countries’ markets. The heterogeneity of operators and organisational chain structures determine the food safety strategies of fruits & vegetables importers in North countries. Each operator defines its own safety strategy according to the typology of suppliers and clients. In some North countries, product’s specialization of importers seems correlated to safety requirement. The heterogeneity of resources allocated to EU entry points control systems reduces the effectiveness of normalisation policies and thus the risks associated with imports. Although being demanding, standardisation strategies based on the obligation of results in the North are weakened by the heterogeneity of official controls at EU entry points (heterogeneity of human and material resources).
38
Next steps
Continuous collaborative works between partners in ongoing projects through the extension of SAFEMED research to some issues identified during the project. Consolidation of the research training of young researchers from South partners (notably Algeria and Tunisia) with the creation of specialisation programmes in sustainable food issues with cross approaches of industrial economics, quantitative economics and operational research. The programme implies a cooperation between INRA-France, University of Bologna (Italy), University of Bejaia (Algeria) and INRAT (Tunisia). Development of decision support programmes by developing the existing theoretical advances on price formation modelling. Continuous coordination with professionals and quality control institutions for the implementation of standards and best practices.
Key publications
Hammoudi A., Grazia C., Surry Y., 2014. Sécurité sanitaire des aliments : régulation, analyses économiques et retours d'expériences, Edited book, Ed. Hermes‐Lavoisier, 322 p.
Ait Hou M., Grazia C., Malorgio G., 2015. Food safety standards and international supply chain organization: A case study of the Moroccan fruit and vegetable exports. Food Control 55:190-199
Bouchriti N., Triqui R., Lamane H., Hamouda A., Karib H., 2015. Parasitisme dans la filière pêche au Maroc : éléments d’évaluation et de gestion du risque. Rev. Mar. Sci. Agr. Vét. 3(1):12-18
Hernández-Rubio J., Morillas-Guerrero J.J., Galdeano-Gómez E., Pérez-Mesa J.C., Aznar-Sánchez J.A., Fernández-Olmos M., 2015. Fruit and vegetables supply chain organization in Spain: effects on quality and food safety. Dpt of Economics and Business, University of Almería. http://repositorio.ual.es/jspui/handle/10835/3857
Laajimi A., 2015. Adoption of Food safety standards in Tunisian dates export supply chain: Scope and limits of foreign market access. NewMedit (in progress)
39
SWIPE
Predicting whitefly population outbreaks in changing environments
Call ARIMNet 2011
Topic Production systems and their components: Developing sustainable agricultural production in a context of increasing ecological and climatic stresses
Keywords Bacterial symbiont, Bemisia, biological control, climate change, pest invasion
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-1st-call/swipe
Start – end 2012 – 2015
Coordinator
Dr Einat ZCHORI-FEIN
Newe Ya’ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Israel
Participating
countries France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Spain, Turkey, USA
Partners
Newe Ya’ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Israel
LBBE, University Lyon 1, France
Dept. of Evolutionary Genetics, Cavanilles Institute for Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Spain
Dept. of Environmental and Natural Resources, University of Western Greece, Greece
Dept. of Entomology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Portici Unit of IPP, CNR-Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante, Italy
Institute of Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Hellenic Agricultural Organisation-DΕMETER, Greece
Dept. of Plant Protection, Ankara University, Turkey
Dept. of Entomology, University of Arizona, USA
Laboratory Molecular Entomology, University of Crete, Greece
Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Spain
Plant health Research Dept., Ankara Plant Protection Central Research Institute, Turkey
Dept. of Plant Protection, Cukurova University, Turkey
Dept. of Geography, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
40
Abstract
Background
The sweet potato whitefly Bemisia tabaci is one of the most devastating plant pests throughout tropical and subtropical regions. Its ability to transmit over 200 types of plant viruses makes it the largest threat to many crops. While in the past its distribution was limited to temperate zones, during the last two decades, it has invaded every continent except Antarctica. As global warming continues, whitefly populations are expected to increase, and with them pesticide applications and subsequent environmental contamination. It was initiated to identify the factors involved in B. tabaci population outbreaks and to use the information gathered to develop models able to predict such changes. The SWIPE team thrived to determine how future changes in temperatures will affect population dynamics of the insect pest, taking into account genetic variability and symbiotic associations.
Objectives
To understand the effects of genetic variability and symbiotic associations in the context of interactions between temperature patterns and insect performance, through the following objectives: - Determine the geographic distribution of B. tabaci genetic groups, their population
genetic structure and symbiotic complement around the Mediterranean basin and the whitefly invasion routes within the Mediterranean basin and determine the respective influence of nuclear and symbiotic variations on stress resistance.
- Model the influence of climate change on whitefly population outbreaks. - Establish a network of researchers.
Methodology
Genetic groups and symbiotic bacteria To identify the genetic groups found around the Mediterranean, over 480 whiteflies were collected in 48 sampling efforts in five countries and analyzed by using molecular techniques. The bacterial symbionts carried by each individual whitefly were also determined.
Symbionts’ influence on host stress resistance The influence of the symbionts associated with B. tabaci on parasitoids, thermal and pesticide resistance as well as on virus transmission capacities were studied by both analyzing the bacterial genomes and conducting field and laboratory experiments.
Invasion routes Various data sources were used to determine potential whitefly invasion routes: a) Geographic distribution; b) Amount of potential host plants transported to the EU; c) Presence or cultivated area of host plants in the EU; d) Number of B. tabaci interceptions. The risk of arrival and entry to a given country was calculated.
Population outbreaks model Computational approaches were applied to model changes in the population dynamics of B. tabaci under anticipated climate change for the next decades. To insert into the model data on the performance of the insects under real conditions, field-experiments were performed in four countries to determine life history traits of the whitefly under varying temperatures.
Results
Genetic groups and symbionts Analyses of the whitefly samples revealed that each of the countries participating in the project had a unique combination of genetic variants, and that the composition of bacterial symbionts varies among populations of the same genetic variant in different
41
geographic areas. Because the pattern of association between B. tabaci variants and the profile of the symbiotic communities is very clear, specific control methods can be designed for each geographic area.
Symbionts’ influence on host stress resistance One of the main observations was that the genome of the bacterium genus Cardinium exhibits characters that suggest its role in defending the host against parasitoid wasps. The genome prediction result was supported by both field and laboratory experiments. This information can be used by those practicing biological control, which may now be able to improve the efficiency of natural enemies, both at the insectary and greenhouse level.
Invasion routes The invasion analysis indicates that all countries around the Mediterranean are highly susceptible to pest invasions. Italy, Greece and Turkey and to a lesser extent Spain, were identified as the probable routes for B. tabaci introduction. The analysis additionally identified Brazil and the USA, and in Europe, France and Spain, as countries at risk for B. tabaci exportation. Interestingly, this is not correlated with the number of interceptions (highest in India, Thailand and Israel), which suggests that control efforts may not be targeted at the riskiest countries.
Population outbreaks model The climatic model developed predicts that temperatures around the Mediterranean will increase ca. 1.5-2.5°C on average until 2050. Whitefly populations are in turn expected to be 5-10 times larger, with the pest active season starting earlier and ending later. Warm spring and autumn seasons might lead to ‘all-year-round’ presence of B. tabaci, but hot summers may decrease population sizes at some locations. Overall, the combined effort resulted in a new modelling framework for projecting pest population dynamics and supporting decision-making under climate change. The weather generator developed allows exploring the dynamic response of B. tabaci to a large variety of temperature patterns, as well as the determination of the main factors controlling population size in addition to the mean annual temperature.
Next steps
The model currently based on Solanum nigrum data should be calibrated for specific crops of interest such as watermelons, cotton, tomatoes and beans and be made available to relevant authorities. Each interested country could establish a website for farmers where model predictions will be published. This could help planning crop rotation, planting time and pest control. Various parts of the SWIPE team continue to collaborate under different national and international funding schemes.
Key publications
Santos-Garcia, D., Rollat-Farnier P.A., Beitia F., Zchori-Fein E., Vavre F., Mouton L., Moya A., Latorre A., Silva F.J., 2014. The genome of Cardinium cBtQ1 provides insights into genome reduction, symbiont motility and its settlement in Bemisia tabaci. Genome Biology and Evolution 6 (4): 1013-1030
Terraz G., Gueguen G., Arnó J., Fleury F., Mouton L., 2014. Nuclear and cytoplasmic differentiation among Mediterranean populations of Bemisia tabaci: testing the biological relevance of cytotypes. Pest Management Science 70(10): 1503-13
Zidon R., Tsueda H., Morin E., Morinet S., 2015. Projecting pest population dynamics under global warming: the combined effect of inter- and intra-annual variations. Ecological Applications, http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/15-1045.1
Ilias A., Lagnel J., Kapantaidaki D.E., Roditakis E., Tsigenopoulos C.S., Vontas J., Tsagkarakou A., 2015. Transcription analysis of neonicotinoid resistance in Mediterranean (MED) populations of B. tabaci reveal novel cytochrome P450s, but no nAChR mutations associated with the phenotype. BMC genomics 16: 939. doi: 10.1186/s12864-015-2161-5
42
AVIAMED
AVIan viral disease prevention and control with plant vaccines for the MEDiterranean area
Call ARIMNet2 2015
Topic Common Mediterranean challenges in animal and plant health
Keywords Infectious Bursal Disease, Newcastle Disease, Plant bio factories, Innovative vaccines, Discrimination of vaccinated from infected animals (DIVA)
Website www.aviamedproject.net
Start – end 2016 – 2019
Coordinator
Dr Selene BASCHIERI
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, ENEA, Italy
Participating
countries Egypt, Italy, Morocco
Partners
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, ENEA, Italy
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Italy
Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt
Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Morocco
Abstract
Background
Emergence and re-emergence of infectious viral poultry diseases remain an important challenge to both productivity and public health especially in the Mediterranean basin. Vaccines are regarded as the most beneficial interventions to prevent this kind of infections. Although most of the vaccines are still based on whole pathogens, many novel vaccine candidates, based only on those pathogen components (antigens) that are critical to initiate protective immune responses, are currently under development. The challenge for these new formulations is to mimic infection by stimulating a complete immune response (innate and adaptive, humoral- and cell-mediated) with minimal morbidity and low production costs. Infectious Bursal disease virus (IBDV) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV) are the cause of economically important diseases of poultry in Morocco, Egypt and also Southern Europe Mediterranean countries.
43
Objectives
The aim of the project is to use plants as “biofactories” for the transient and stable expression of IBDV and NDV antigens improved in their instrinsic immunogenicity and allowing to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) in surveillance programs and international trade of poultry and poultry products.
Methodology
IBDV and NDV antigens will be produced in plants both in their native forms or as fusion to: i) the fragment crystallizable region of chicken IgY immunoglobulins or to ii) the coat protein of the plant virus Potato virus X. The transiently and the stably expressed antigens will be used to: i) evaluate the type of immune response they activate by performing immunization trials through subcutaneous/intramuscular, and mucosal/oral routes; ii) evaluate the efficacy of the selected prototype vaccines in terms of clinical protection and virus shedding following experimental challenge; iii) set up novel diagnostic assays.
Results (expected/achieved)
The plant “biofactory” approach has the potential to result in:
i) Ease and rapidity of production scale up at low costs due to the use of plants as expression systems. ii) Simplification of the purification procedures. iii) Improvement of the immunogenic properties of the antigens. iv) Development of low-cost and ready to use diagnostic tools able to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA). Innovative outputs
- Innovative methods to improve the intrinsic immunogenicity of recombinant antigens (subunit vaccines).
- Low costs and easy scale up of recombinant antigens (subunit vaccines) production using plant as biofactories.
- Development of low cost and ready to use diagnostic tools able to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals.
Impact
- Animal healthcare. - Creation of new knowledge in the Mediterranean area. - Technology transfer among Mediterranean countries.
44
BACPLANT
Towards a sustainable agriculture by increasing plant tolerance to biotic stress under climatic change
Call ARIMNet2 2015
Topic Increase in resilience, rusticity and productivity of Mediterranean agricultural production systems
Keywords Climate change, Microbial biological agents, Plant acclimation, Plant disease, Plant-microbe interaction
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call/bacplant
Start – end 2016 – 2019
Coordinator
Dr Cédric JACQUART
Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne (URCA), France
Participating
countries France, Morocco, Tunisia
Partners
Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne (URCA), France
Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale (ULCO), France
Institut Supérieur d’Agriculture Lille (ISA), France
Acolyance, France
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie (INRAT), Tunisia
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Morocco
Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II (IAV), Morocco
Abstract
Background
Nowadays, agriculture must overcome unprecedented challenges. In addition to improving food supply to the one billion people currently malnourished, agriculture must meet new demand from growing population and competition for agricultural products from bioenergy production. Meantime there is high confidence that climate change (CC) will have great impacts on crop production in many parts of the world. For the Mediterranean Basin, one of the potentially more vulnerable areas, we predict a rise of annual mean temperatures and a decline in the annual mean precipitation. In addition, drought period duration will be from 3 to 8 times more frequent than at present. Elevated temperatures and water deficit resulting from CC may considerably influence plant growth and development as their susceptibility to pathogens.
45
In this situation, Mediterranean agriculture will need to adapt to CC. Furthermore, there is an increasing demand for "safe" agricultural products, with a reduced use of chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides). Since plants are surrounded by dense populations of Microbial biocontrol agents, which potentially allow them to better cope with biotic and abiotic stresses, there is a need to valorize them. There are currently an increasing number of results from both field and laboratory studies, which confirmed that inoculation with microbial biocontrol agents can have positive effects on plant health and growth. These beneficial microbes can also enhance plant resistance to several environmental stresses (drought, salinity, and nutrient deficiency).
Objectives
- Increase wheat tolerance against Septoria tritici blotch (STB) and powdery mildew (PM) under climatic change context by using efficient biological control agents (BCA).
- Breaking up regional and national barriers by endorsing a Mediterranean network for optimal efficiency of multisite experimental trials.
Methodology
PGPR (Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria) screening - High antifungal activity (PM and STB). - Ability to induce resistance in plant. - Characterization of induced defence markers using cytological, biochemical and
molecular approaches. Bacterized plants or seeds production - Release of resilient bacterized plantlets/seeds to PM and STB under climate change
context.
Results (expected/achieved)
Crop management benefits - Cultivars and agricultural practices adapted to drought and heat conditions:
Optimization of water and fertilizer uses, and reduction of production costs. Environment impact benefits - Sustainable production systems, reduction of external inputs, improving water and
land uses, and preserving biodiversity. Human life benefits - Improving product quality and consumer’s health, increasing income, food security
and knowledge to support for decision making process.
46
BEST
Exploring genotypic diversity to optimize barley grain and straw quality under marginal/stressful growth conditions
Call ARIMNet2 2015
Topic Increase in resilience, rusticity and productivity of Mediterranean agricultural production systems
Keywords Barley germplasm, Abiotic and biotic constraints, Nutritional quality, Cadmium contamination, Biostimulants
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call/best
Start – end 2016 – 2019
Coordinator
Dr Chedly ABDELLY
Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj Cedria (CBBC), Tunisia
Participating
countries Egypt, France, Morocco, Slovenia, Tunisia
Partners
Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj Cedria (CBBC), Tunisia
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
Timac Agro International - Groupe Roullier, France
National Research Center, Egypt
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie, Tunisia
Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Morocco
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie/National Gene Bank of Tunisia, Tunisia
47
Abstract
Background
Mediterranean climate and soils impose drastic constraints to agriculture. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is one of the best adapted species to Mediterranean conditions. Climate change and growing Mediterranean population will further increase environmental and anthropic constraints on barley culture in a near future. An urgent objective is thus to obtain barley varieties with high yield under stress conditions, while maintaining high nutritional quality of edible parts, associating high protein, mineral and fiber content with low contamination. In this context, the use of plant growth bio-stimulants can help to improve stress tolerance and nutritional quality while limiting the use of classical chemical fertilizers that cause soil pollution.
Objectives
- Gather a collection of the most tolerant Mediterranean barley genotypes from the south of the Mediterranean basin which is more exposed to climatic, edaphic and biotic constraints.
- Screen the whole collection for yield, nutritional quality and contaminant content under single stresses (drought, soil contamination, salinity) to select barley accessions that maintain high yields under a single stress but display contrasted quality traits.
- Characterize barley accessions with contrasted responses to a single stress by exposing them to combinations of biotic and/or abiotic constraints and test the effect of bio-stimulants and explore the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying the quality traits and tolerance of these accessions.
Methodology
- Screening of the barley collection under major Mediterranean stress conditions. - Tolerance of selected genotypes to combinations of biotic and/or abiotic constraints
and effect of bio-stimulants and characterization of resilience promoting bio-stimulants from CMI-Rouiller company.
Results (expected/achieved)
- Providing key information on the resilience and quality traits of Mediterranean germplasm under stress conditions, which can be used by breeders and farmers to choose their variety depending on a particular growing environment.
- Identifying potential ideotypes for entering breeding programs to reach resilience objectives while preserving nutritional quality.
- Better understanding the molecular and physiological mechanisms involved in barley nutritional quality and tolerance to combined stresses that will be of great relevance for the scientific and agronomical communities.
Innovation: Description of a collection of barley cultivars based on several traits under constraint (Ionomic profiles, description of mechanisms underlying their tolerance to stresses via molecular & biochemical profiling). From the data, breeding for resistance to combined stresses will be possible by the choice of the barley genotype displaying the desired traits under combined stresses.
Key publications
Hellal F.A, El-Sayed S.A.A., Abd El-Hady M., Khatab I.A., El-Shabrawi H.M. and El-Menisy A.M. (2017): Influence of salt stress on Molecular and biochemical changes of barley at early seedling stage. Bioscience Research, 14(2): 417- 426.
Hellal F.A, El-Shabrawi H. M, Abd El-Hady M, Khatab I. A, El-Sayed S.A. A and Chedly Abdelly (2017): Influence of PEG induced drought stress on molecular and biochemical constituents and seedling growth of Egyptian barley cultivars. Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. (In press).
48
BRUCMEDNET
Improvement of epidemiological and serological tools for diagnosis and control of Brucellosis in the Mediterranean region
Call ARIMNet2 2015
Topic Common Mediterranean challenges in animal and plant health
Keywords Brucellosis, Molecular epidemiology, MLVA, Proteomic, DIVA
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call/brucmednet
Start – end 2016 – 2019
Coordinator
Dr Manuela TITTARELLI
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise "G. Caporale", Italy
Participating
countries Egypt, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Tunisia
Partners
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise "G. Caporale", Italy
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia, Italy
Hellenic Agricultural Organization - DEMETER, Veterinary Research Institute of Thessaloniki, Greece
National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinarian Research, I. P., Portugal
Institut de la recherche Veterinaire de Tunisie, Tunisia
Istituto Sperimentale Italiano L. Spallanzani, Italy
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Egypt
Abstract
Background
Despite brucellosis has been eradicated from most of the developed countries, it still causes a public health impact and economic losses in animal husbandry in the Mediterranean area. In the last years, brucellosis is remerging as a new challenge with new foci of both human and animal disease. The design of adequate strategies for preventing animal brucellosis and consequently human brucellosis requires a detailed understanding of disease epidemiology. Molecular epidemiology greatly enhances traditional epidemiology contributing to the development of more rational approaches for disease prevention with the improvment of public health. On the other hand, current indirect diagnostic tests still suffer from specificity problems and are not suitable for differentiating infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) when vaccination policies based on the use of Brucella smooth live attenuated vaccines (B. melitensis Rev.1) are adopted.
49
Objectives
- Genomic: To develop and refine MLVA panels for B. melitensis and B. abortus; to develop a web-based server for VNTR data on different Brucella species; and to genetically characterize Brucella strains from the Mediterranean area.
- Proteomic: To characterize the surface and sub-surface proteome of B. melitensis and to identify immunogenic epitopes uniquely expressed in B. melitensis or Rev.1 vaccine strain, and suitable for a DIVA strategy able to discriminate infected from Rev.1 vaccinated animals.
Methodology
Improvement of MLVA analyses, development of VNTR database and optimisation of PCR identification protocols; MLVA development, MLVA web-platform and MLVA exercise (performance); Proteome characterization of Brucella and identification of immunoreactive proteins; Development of protocols for protein extraction from Brucella and cross-reactive bacteria ; Top down approach with 2DE and MALDI and bottom up with shotgun label free proteomics; Bioinformatics screening and analysis of best epitopes; Synthesis of a library of putative immunoreactive/immunogenic peptides
Results (expected/achieved)
- New MLVA panels will be designed with the overall aim of generating a more easy and applicable MLVA methodology for genotyping of B. abortus and B. melitensis strains.
- BruceMLVAplus - web platform for the storage and analysis of molecular and metadata associated to the isolates.
- We expect to validate MLVA data for molecular surveillance and outbreak detection of brucellosis.
- To assess the phylogeographic structure of Brucella. - To characterize the surface and sub-surface proteome of B. melitensis and
immunoreactive epitopes. - To identify immunogenic epitopes uniquely expressed in B. melitensis or Rev.1 vaccine
strain, and suitable for a DIVA strategy able to discriminate infected from Rev.1 vaccinated animals.
- To develop a new diagnostic test.
Key publications
Babetsa Μ., Zdragas Α., Gelasakis Α.Ι., Papadopoulos Α.Ι, Ekateriniadou L.V., BoukouvalaΕ., Investigation of the presence of the vaccine strain of Brucella melitensis Rev.1 in the blood of vaccinated and non vaccinated sheep, 4
th Veterinary Congress of Productive Animals and Food
Hygiene, 12-14/5/2017, Volos, Greece.
Babetsa Μ., Papasozomenou Th., Papadopoulos Α., Ekateriniadou L.V., Boukouvala Ε., MLVA Identification of Brucella melitensis endemic strains, 4
th Veterinary Congress of Productive
Animals and Food Hygiene, 12-14/5/2017, Volos, Greece.
Cristian Piras, Isabella Alloggio, Viviana Greco, Tiziana Di Febo, Ivanka Krasteva, Andrea Urbani, Giuliano Garofolo, Manuela Tittarelli, Luigi Bonizzi and Paola Roncada. Proteomics to improve serodiagnosis of Brucellosis. Proceeding of XII Annual Conference of Italian Proteomics Association. June 12th-15th 2017. Pag.42 ISBN978-88-7959-961-0
50
EMERAMB
Emergent viruses and virus vectors in Mediterranean Basin crops
Call ARIMNet2 2015
Topic Common Mediterranean challenges in animal and plant health
Keywords Emerging diseases, Virus Ecology, Evolution, Horticultural crops
Website www.emeramb.eu
Start – end 2016 – 2019
Coordinator
Dr Miguel A. ARANDA
Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain
Participating
countries Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey
Partners
Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain
Hellenic Agricultural Organisation – Demeter, Greece
National Institute of Biology, Slovenia
Plant Protection Central Research Institute, Turkey
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
National Research Center, Egypt
University of Ain Shams, Faculty of Agriculture, Egypt
Université Chouaib Doukkali, Faculté des Sciences El Jadida, Morocco
Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Israel
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France
Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement, France
Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura – Centro di Ricerca per la Patologia Vegetale, Italy
51
Abstract
Background
Emerging plant viral diseases represent a significant burden to plant health, and their highest impact in Mediterranean agriculture is on vegetables grown under intensive horticultural practices. Intensive horticulture is very competitive and one of the most dynamic sectors in Mediterranean agriculture. The emergence of a new viral disease results from a complex interaction among several factors, including ecological changes of host and vector populations, and genetic changes due to the introduction of new crop varieties and the evolution of the viruses and/or vectors.
Objectives
- Determine how key biological and ecological factors can contribute to the emergence of viral diseases in crops, providing measures for the management and control of emergent viral diseases in Mediterranean horticulture and, importantly, a better understanding of the phenomenon of emergence itself.
- Set up advanced virus detection and discovery tools. - Map viruses and vectors in crops and reservoirs. - Analyse ecological and evolutionary factors influencing virus emergence. - Analyse virus-host interactions. - Develop sustainable strategies for the control of emerging plant viral diseases.
Methodology
- Mapping viruses and vectors in crops and reservoirs. Exhaustive surveys coupled to advanced detection techniques. Collaboration among partners essential.
- Virus discovery and detection. Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. - Analysis of virus ecology and evolution. Epidemiological modelling based on advanced
biostatistics techniques. Population genetics, phylogeography and molecular epidemiology.
- Analysis of virus-host interactions. Transcriptomics, proteomics and screening of mutants.
- Virus control. Genetic resistance and cross-protection, with emphasis on sustainability.
Results (expected/achieved)
- Common Mediterranean challenges in animal and plant health. - Increase in resilience, rusticity and productivity of Mediterranean agricultural
production systems. - Improving inputs management, on the level of the production systems, for economic
and environmental impacts. - Agricultural and food policies.
52
MASCC
Mediterranean Agricultural Soils Conservation under global Change
Call ARIMNet2 2015
Topic Sustainable management of water and other resources used by agriculture
Keywords Soil vulnerability to erosion, Soil-properties evolution Modelling, Agriculture techniques for soil conservation, Innovative agricultural practices, On- and off-site effects of soil degradation
Website http://mascc-project.org/
Start – end 2016 – 2019
Coordinator
Dr Damien RACLOT
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD-LISAH), France
Participating
countries France, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia
Partners
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD-LISAH), France
University of Catania, Italy
Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco
Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
Instituto de Diagnóstico Ambiental y Estudios del Agua, Spain
Institut National de Recherche en Génie Rural Eaux et Forêts, Tunisia
Abstract
Background
MASCC aims to address mitigation and adaptation strategies to global change by assessing current and future evolution of Mediterranean agricultural soil vulnerability to erosion in relation to projected land use, agricultural practices and climate change.
Objectives
- To assess the similarities/dissimilarities in dominant factors affecting the current Mediterranean agricultural soil vulnerability by exploring a wide range of contexts.
- To evaluate the vulnerability and resilience of agricultural production to a combination of potential changes in a wide range of Mediterranean contexts.
- To provide guidelines on sustainable agricultural conservation strategies adapted to each specific agro-ecosystem and taking into consideration both on- and off-site erosion effects and socio-economics issues.
53
Methodology
- Present soil degradation based on the extensive existing database: Similarities/dissimilarities in dominant factors affecting the current Mediterranean agricultural soil vulnerability and impact of extreme events.
- Elaborating scenarios based on a shared experience of mitigation strategies: Assessment of innovative agricultural practices and four narrative scenarios for 2050: business as usual; production; protection; sustainable.
- Numerical modelling: Parameterization and validation of the model based on current conditions; Simulating both on-site and off-site soil evolution for the four scenarios.
- Assessment of mitigation strategies to derive guidelines adapted to each agro-ecosystem: Comparing the present and future on-site and off-site effects of soil erosion on agriculture sustainability for each studied site; Comparing agriculture sustainability in the study sites and for the four scenarios.
Results (expected/achieved)
For scientific communities - Methodological advances and cognitive results about the soil sustainability of
Mediterranean agrosystems under global changes (disseminated through scientific papers, international congresses and workshops).
- Capacity building (Master, PhD and post-docs) with a shared transnational experience (including a 4 days course on a field experiment in one of the monitored catchments).
For policy makers - Accurate diagnosis on mitigation strategies that must be favoured in each agrosystem
context (disseminated through technical papers and participatory workshops). - Identification of priority areas requiring an immediate attention. For local actors - Better cope with the expected transformation of the local agrosystems (disseminated
to technical institutes, dissemination centres and farmers through interviews, participatory workshops, technical papers, policy briefs).
Key publications
https://mascc-project.org/publications
54
MEDOOMICS
Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil Omics: profiling and fingerprinting
Call ARIMNet2 2015
Topic Agricultural and food policies
Keywords Olive oil, Profiling and fingerprinting, Authentication, Traceability, Geographical indication
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call/medoomics
Start – end 2016 – 2018
Coordinator
Dr Maria João CABRITA
University of Evora, Portugal
Participating
countries France, Portugal, Tunisia, Turkey
Partners
University of Evora, Portugal
Aix Marseille Université, Laboratoire d'instrumentation et sciences analytiques, Equipe MEthodologie, Traitement de l’Information en Chimie Analytique, France
Association Française Interprofessionnelle de l’Olive, Centre Technique de l’Olivier, France
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie de Sfax, Tunisia
Cukurova University, Turkey
Adana Science and Technology University, Turkey
55
Abstract
Background
Olive oil is one of the oldest vegetable oils, and is the major constituent of the Mediterranean diet. Its consumption has also spread remarkably outside the Mediterranean Basin. It is considered as a commodity and nutraceutical product that has a huge economic impact in the Mediterranean countries. Nowadays, consumers’ awareness concerning quality, safety and traceability of food products, in general, and olive oil in particular, is increasing. More information is required in terms of labeling, and also legislation frameworks are in constant updating, aiming to maintain and improve the overall quality of this product. In this regard issues related to olive oil authenticity and traceability are considering crucial.
Objectives
- A full characterization of varietal EVOOs from Portugal, France, Turkey and Tunisie, targeting some less studied and typical varieties of each country.
- Establish tools that enable to ascertain the geographical origin of EVOOs, that can be further used for Geographical Indication of Origin (IGP) and Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) certification.
- Establish chemical markers to be used for EVOOs authenticity. - Transfer of some methodologies developed within this proposal to industries.
Methodology
The novelty of MedOOmics is based on an integrated approach, comprising a deep knowledge of some of the least studied olive oil varieties in the Mediterranean Basin. Olive oils profiling will be achieved by the determination of several class of compounds in a multicomponent analysis: trace elements by ICP-MS; stable isotope ratio analysis by EA-IRMS and/or GC/C-IRMS; volatile and phenolic compounds, tocopherols, pigments, sterols, fatty acids and triacylglicerols by chromatographic techniques- GC-FID, GC/MS or HPLC-DAD, LC/MS. Olive oils fingerprinting, focus on recognition of patterns, will comprise NMR techniques, including multidimensional NMR, Infrared Spectroscopy (mean infrared (MIR) and near infrared (NIR)) and Raman Spectroscopy. Appropriated statistical analysis will be performed, namely chemometric tools using multivariate descriptive and predictive methods.
Results (expected/achieved)
- Provide invaluable information to be used in labelling, aiming to raise awareness of the importance of geographical origin, and the chemical and sensorial characteristics of each variety.
- Establish a pattern comprising the “markers of authenticity” that will be further used in the identification of olive oil adulterations.
- Increment a database of Mediterranean Olive Oils. - Comprehensive approach. - The use of classification and visualization techniques, to define the best combination
of analytical and statistical methods for olive oils traceability.
56
ORPRAMED
Risk assessment of introduction of Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri through commercial trade of ornamental rutaceous plants
in the Mediterranean basin
Call ARIMNet2 2015
Topic Common Mediterranean challenges in animal and plant health
Keywords CBC, Phytosanitary emergencies, Economics, Resistance, Shipment
Website www.orpramed-arimnet2.eu
Start – end 2016 – 2019
Coordinator
Dr Paola CARUSO
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria (CREA), Centro di ricerca olivicoltura, frutticoltura e agrumicoltura, Italy
Participating
countries France, Italy, Spain, Turkey
Partners
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria (CREA), Centro di ricerca olivicoltura, frutticoltura e agrumicoltura, Italy
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, Università di Catania, Italy
Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, Spain
Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement, France
Biological Control Research Station, Turkey
Cukurova University, Plant Protection Department, Agriculture Faculty, Turkey
Abstract
Background
Citrus crops in the Mediterranean region are currently threatened by several plant pathogens, introduced through the importation of infected yet symptomless plant material and plant pathogen vectors.The European “Plant Health Directive” (2000/29CE) and following amendments lists the requirements for the introduction into the EU of citrus plants, including fruits, which could be a pathway for the entry of citrus pests. Among those pests listed as quarantine organisms Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) or X. fuscans subsp. aurantifolii (Xfa), not known to occur in the European community and entire Mediterranean region, are causal agents of Citrus Bacterial Canker (CBC) a devastating disease that severely affect citrus plants and fruits being no commercial or dropped prematurely.
57
In case of introduction, CBC control would be problematic since some treatments used for CBC control are not allowed in most of the Mediterranean Countries and those usually used, such copper compounds, are going to be reduced in the EU in the next future. Two of the seven CBC causing bacteria entry pathways highlighted by EFSA are ornamental rutaceous plants through both the commercial trade and passenger pathways, respectively. Rutaceous ornamental species are extensively grown in Mediterranean countries, in nurseries, orchards but also private and public gardens. The rutaceous relatives plants, particularly those not covered by the 2000/29EC directive, represent a threat of the introduction of this pathogen in the Mediterranean basin both by the introduction of infected plants and planting material through official routes and via passenger traffic and/or illegal traffic.
Objectives
- Analysis of the actual flows of the ornamental citrus and rutaceous relatives towards the Mediterranean basin.
- To provide new data on the behaviour of many ornamental Rutaceae regarding Xcc, to expand the knowledge about the epiphytic and endophytic colonization of the pathogen and the bacterium’s ability to survive.
- Acquiring new genomic and transcriptomic information and ornamental citrus relatives genome not yet available.
- To acquire methods, abilities and protocols to work with quarantine bacterial diseases, as Xcc to face possible pathogenic threats, and to provide the needed useful information for the definition and/or update of a new directive on plant protection.
Methodology
- Economic studies (analysis of official data on international trade, interviews, etc.) and surveys on nurseries and groves.
- Microbiology (laboratory screening, in vitro and in vivo assays). - Plant genomics (molecular-based protocols, genomic and transcriptomic analysis) and
a ring-test to validate molecular-based protocol.
Results (expected/achieved)
- Update the state of the art on the trade of Rutaceae; Update import / export regulation and directive on plant protection; EU economy: savings of public funds that would be required in the case of CBC diffusion; New genome also useful for other citrus emerging diseases like HLB.
- Trade flows preliminary data and interceptions of Xcc infected ornamental and Citrus relatives plant material highlighted that an update of the current plant protection directive it could be necessary.
- The host-status of many ornamental rutaceous plants has been evaluated. For instance, preliminary assays performed on detached leaves showed the different behaviour of Murraya paniculata and M. ovatifoliolata towards Xcc.
- Development of v-qPCR method to quantify viable cells of Xcc in ornamental Rutaceae species to quantify the infestation level of Xcc in commercial Rutaceae.
58
SALTFREE
Salinization in irrigated areas: risk evaluation and prevention
Call ARIMNet2 2015
Topic Improving inputs management, on the level of the production systems, for economic and environmental impacts
Keywords Salinization, Irrigation, Soil conservation, Water conservation, Sustainable agriculture
Website http://idl-saltfree.com/
Start – end 2016 – 2019
Coordinator
Dr Fernando SANTOS
Instituto Dom Luiz, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Participating
countries Egypt, Italy, Portugal, Tunisia
Partners
Instituto Dom Luiz, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, Portugal
Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, Egypt
Institut National de Recherche en Génie Rural Eaux et Forêts, Tunisia
Institute for Mediterranean Agricultural and Forestry Systems - National Research Council, Italy
59
Abstract
Background
The aim of this project is to develop a framework to evaluate the salinization risk in irrigated production systems in the Mediterranean basin and to propose management practices to prevent or correct salinization mechanisms, advising managers of production systems about practices that can reduce the vulnerability to salinization and conserve soil and water. Salinization, as a major cause for soil degradation in countries around the Mediterranean, limits agricultural productivity and can ultimately cause desertification and abandonment of the land. Salinization can also affect the quality of both ground and surface water resources, degrade infrastructures, and decrease biodiversity. Such effects represent major negative social, economic, and environmental impacts. The ecological conditions of the Mediterranean region favor salt accumulation in soils. Furthermore, agricultural practices such as irrigation and fertilization may further promote salt accumulation and accelerate land degradation in Mediterranean environments. At the same time, irrigation is of primal importance to increase agricultural production. The irrigated area in Mediterranean basin is expected to expand, as a mean to increase production, and as result of climate change, with the annual precipitation being likely to decrease in most of the Mediterranean basin. The salinization risk in irrigated production systems depends on natural factors such as
the soil type and the local climate, but also on the quality of the irrigation water,
irrigation and fertilization management practices. We want to understand how these
factors interact and make a production system vulnerable to salinization.
Objectives
- Identify relationships between properties such as soil type, groundwater, evapotranspiration, management of irrigation, fertilization, and soil and the dynamics of salts and water in the soil.
- Determine the salinization risk and propose a framework for prediction of salinization. Propose preventive and corrective management practices.
Methodology
- Data collection and modelling of water and salts transport. - Geophysical surveys. - Correlation of geophysical data to salinity. - Salinity risk: interpretation and framework. - Preventive and corrective management practices.
Results (expected/achieved)
Impact - The salinization is identified as a major cause of soil degradation in countries around
the Mediterranean. The evaluation of the salinization risk, using innovative technologies, will have a great impact on the irrigated production systems in the entire Mediterranean basin.
Innovation - Putting together the research puzzle into a comprehensive risk assessment value. The
research exercises will be effectively combined and integrated into a salinity risk assessment.
60
STOMP
Sustainable Tomato Production: plant defense enhancement, development of new biopesticides and optimization of
environmental, water and chemical inputs
Call ARIMNet2 2015
Topic Improving inputs management, on the level of the production systems, for economic and environmental impacts
Keywords IPM, Insecticide resistance, Botanicals, Plant defense, Greenhouse
Website https://www.researchgate.net/project/Sustainable-Tomato-Production-plant-defense-enhancement-development-of-new-biopesticides-and-optimization-of-environmental-water-and-chemical-inputs-STomP
Start – end 2016 – 2019
Coordinator
Dr Lucia ZAPPALÀ
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, University of Catania, Italy
Participating
countries France, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia
Partners
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, University of Catania, Italy
University of Sfax, Faculty of Sciences, Tunisia
Dipartimento di Agraria, University of Reggio Calabria, Italy
Italian Agricultural Research Council, Italy
Institute of Chemistry of Nice (UMR CNRS 7272), University of Nice, France
Institute Sophia Agrobiotech - UMR INRA 1355 CNRS 7254 UNS, France
University of Napoli “Federico II”, Department of agriculture, Italy
Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Complexe Horticole d’Agadir, Morocco
Hellenic Agricultural Organisation – Demeter, Greece
Abstract
Background
Tomato has a very high social and economical relevance in Europe and the whole Mediterranean area. Several key insect pests (e.g. Tuta absoluta, whiteflies) and fungal diseases (e.g. Fusarium spp., Phytophtora infestans, Alternaria spp., Oidium lycopersici) affect the tomato industry in the Mediterranean. Both arthropod pest and disease control often relies on agrochemicals which can disrupt existing integrated pest management (IPM) programs, promote the development of resistance by targeted pests, increase production costs and cause significant risks for farmers, consumers and other non-target organisms.
61
Objectives
- Characterize insecticide resistance of invasive tomato pests (T. absoluta and B. tabaci) in populations coming from various Mediterranean countries.
- Develop insecticides derived from Mediterranean plants. - Apply beneficial fungi and microbial consortia to enhance the plant defense. - Optimize irrigation and fertilization and their effects on pests and beneficials. - Validate a newly designed insect-proof ventilated greenhouse in terms of yields, pest
and natural enemies population dynamics.
Methods
Classical toxicity assays, Molecular tools, GC, GC-MS, LC-UV-MS, HPLC analyses, Bioassays, Physiological parameter analyses, sequencing and analysis of differential gene expression.
Results (expected/achieved)
Reduction of chemical and water inputs, Enhancement of the role of natural resources, Reduction of the infestation by the target pests in a new greenhouse structure, Plant defense enhancement through the use of beneficial fungi and microbial consortia, Application of new insecticides of natural origin, innovatively formulated, Optimize the use of the commercially available insecticides, by investigating the insecticide resistance propensity of important insect pests.
T. absoluta resistance to chlorantraniliprole (widespread), emamectin benzoate and indoxacarb (first record) was detected. Very high resistance to spiromesifen and spirotetramat was reported for the first time in B. tabaci strains from the MED region. Mortality and data from molecular diagnostics will be available for end users on an online open resistance database (http://en.galanthos.gr). Chemically characterized essential oils (EOs), formulated as nano-emulsion (followed or not by sonication) and as spray-drying, were effective in controlling sap feeders (whiteflies and aphids) in fumigation trials and in contact, ingestion and adult repellence trials on the chewer T. absoluta. EOs from Tunisian aromatic plants were extracted and characterized. They were found to be effective against some microorganisms and the moth Ephestia kuehniella. Biopesticides were also tested under field conditions for their target toxicity and in the lab for non-target effects (on a predator and bumblebees). Plant defence was proved to be enhanced in the presence of Trichoderma spp. mainly in terms of enhanced natural enemies attraction. The effects of limitations of nitrogen and water inputs, singly or in combination, on plant physiology as well as on plant defence towards pests (namely T. absoluta) in soilless and soil tomato growing system, were investigated. A clear effect of irrigation and fertilization on the 1st trophic level, some effects on the 2nd while some weak and some potential (indirect) effects on the 3rd were recorded. A newly designed greenhouse with roof and side vents was tested. The data collected showed that the net significantly reduced and delayed the infestation; besides, the net creates a more favourable environment for cultivation as it allows for higher plant biomass and yield.
Key publications
Campolo et al., 2017. Scientific Reports, in press
Coppola et al., 2017. Insect Science DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12475
Roditakis et al., 2017. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 80: 11-20
Roditakis et al., 2017. J Pest Sci. DOI: 10.1007/s10340-017-0900-x
62
BEEHEAL
Promoting bee health for sustainable agriculture
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Promoting sustainable agriculture for socio-economic development
Keywords Honey bee health, Nosema ceranae, Bee virus, Pollinators
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call-2/beeheal
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Raquel MARTÍN HERNÁNDEZ
Centro de Investigación Apícola y Agroambiental de Marchamalo, Spain
Participating
countries France, Israel, Spain, Portugal
Partners
Centro de Investigación Apícola y Agroambiental de Marchamalo, Spain
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France
Centro de Investigação de Montanha e Escola Superior Agrária de Bragança do InstitutoPolitécnico de Bragança, Portugal
Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Israel
Abstract
Background
The conservation on the abundance and diversity of insect pollinators is a decisive action to avoid the negative impact that the lack of these insects can produce on agriculture, on food production and security, and on environmental sustainability. More than one third of the world's agricultural production depends on Apis mellifera pollination. During the last years there is an alarming increase in the collapse of honey bee colonies where bee pathogens like Varroa destructor mites, the microsporidia Nosema ssp. and viruses participate actively. Colony decline might compromise not only food security but also present and future income to the growers. The aim of this project is to determine the phenology and interaction of the microsporidia Nosema ceranae and viruses including acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), Black queen cell virus (BQCV), Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) and Deformed wing virus (DWV), in four Mediterranean countries: Spain, France, Portugal and Israel. The possible synergisms between N. ceranae and viruses will be also accomplished.
63
Objectives and methodology
Detenction and phenology of nosemosis in the four countries - Diagnosis and phenology of Nosema ceranae and viruses. - Pre-screen colonies. - Selection of 15 colonies positivis to N. ceranae: Varroa present (SP, IS, FR, POR) and
Varroa absent (Azores – POR & Ouessant (FR)). - Genetic characterization of bees.
Synergism between N. ceranae & viruses (ABPV, IAPV, BQCV, CBPV, DWV) - Dynamic of Nosema & viral infection. - Sequencing of Viruses to determine variant. - Data collection (Presence of Nosema and viruses, % bees infected by N. ceranae,
Colony strength, Clinical signs, Production). - Determination of synergism or antagonism (across countries, Varroa present/not
present). - Efficiency of Fumagillin treatment (IS).
Results (expected/achieved)
- Investigating the relationship between outbreak of viruses and N. ceranae infections (in colonies treated for Varroa).
- Identifying the virus strain involved in it and compare it with strains of the same virus present at low or asymptomatic levels in the colonies.
- Comparing among territories with or without V. destructor (vector of viruses) and / or without N. ceranae (if possible) to provide a broader knowledge on interactions between pathogens.
- Examining the impact of treatments against Nosema and pollen supply on the outcome of the virus infections.
- Contributing to ameliorate the damage caused by the expansion of N. ceranae through a rational implementation of existing treatments to avoid emergence of synergistic pathogens that accelerate colony collapse compromising food security.
64
CARAVAN
Toward a CAmel tRAnsnational VAlue chaiN
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Valorising local products through food value chains improvement
Keywords Camels, Genomics, Meat, Milk, Training
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call-2/ca-ra-va-n
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Juan Vicente DELGADO
Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
Participating
countries Algeria, France, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia
Partners
Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie, Tunisia
Université de Tlemcen, Algeria
Institut Agronomique & Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France
UMR QualiSud, France
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agrari, Italy
Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", Italy
Collaborators
Mohamed Ould Ahmed, Institut Supérieur d'Enseignement Technologique de Rosso, Mauritania
Mohammed Bengoumi, FAO Subregional Office for North Africa, Tunisia
Pamela Burger, Vetmeduni, Austria
To wa r d a CAmel t R An s na t io na l VAl ue cha iN
65
Abstract
Background
Here, we propose an applied project where the foundations for a modern, effective genetic selection scheme in dromedary camels in Algeria are laid down through: (i) standardization of dairy/meat/fertility traits phenotyping protocols; (ii) evaluation and standardization of camel identification systems; (iii) implementation of standardized animal identification and phenotyping protocols in pilot farms, and (iv) establish-ment of a first genealogical, phenotypic and genotypic database for further valorization through detection of selection signatures, GWAS analysis, and, possibly, modelling of simple and robust embryonic design for genomic selection approaches. Among the expected impacts: increased milk/meat production, higher profitability of the camel sector, more structured and enforced breeders associations.
Objectives
- Enforce the Mediterranean Research Area and promote horizontal and vertical integration among actors along the dromedary value chain.
- Increase dromedary work, milk and meat production and reproductive performances. - Promote food safety and quality along the dromedary food value chain. - Promote knowledge-transfer and capacity-building.
Methodology
- Vertical & horizontal integration along the chain: Stakeholders analysis, Working meetings and Participatory process.
- Toward implementation of a modern selection system: Guidelines and Trans-national pilot projects.
- Food value chain: from knowledge to practice: Socio-economic analysis of the value chain, Food safety, Food safety and quality.
- Training and capacity building: Targeted and/or remote IT trainings Grant limitations, Scientific/professional/refreshment trainings to promote transfer, Covering all the project themes, Staff & student mobility.
- Project visibility, dissemination & sustainability: Project website, web-based media and social networks, international organizations, local development agencies & public administrations, informations and disseminations material, final disseminations meeting and permanent national project contact points (fund raising).
Results (expected/achieved)
- Permanent network of stakeholders. - Recommendations & guidelines, SOPs. - Basic system for modern genetic selection at national & transnational level. - Product and process characterization data. - Social map of actors along the value chain & SWOT analysis. - Participative design of future development trajectories. - Human capacity building (scientific & professional level).
66
DIVERCROP
Land system dynamics in the Mediterranean basin across scales as relevant indicator for species diversity and local food systems
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Promoting sustainable agriculture for socio-economic development
Keywords Land sytems, Multi-scale model, Diversity indicators, Drivers of territorial dynamics, Food systems
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call-2/divercrop
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Claude NAPOLÉONE
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
Participating
countries Algeria, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia
Partners
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France
Universidade de Évora, Portugal
Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Écologie Marine et Continentale, France
Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais, France
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie, Tunisia
Université Larbi Benm’hidi, Algeria
Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, Malta
Grupo de Investigación en Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Sostenibilidad, Spain
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa, Italy
Abstract
Background
The DIVERCROP project aims to highlights interactions between current dynamics of the Mediterranean agricultural practices, species diversity and local food systems at multiple spatial scales. The main assumption is 1) that the current land use dynamics in Mediterranean area may enhance, in many cases, situations of land use pattern diversity and 2) this diversity is an indicator of places where, on one hand, evolutions of the couple ecosystems/agricultural systems could be the foundations of a new sustainable agriculture and, one other hand there is an ability to develop local food systems.
67
So, an assessment of the land use diversity processes and related changes occurring on the Mediterranean area (e.g. intensification, extensification, urbanization and land abandonment) and their drivers (geographical, agronomical and socio-economic) will be carried out. From this framework, we will evaluate how these changes impact the agricultural and species diversity at different spatial scales, and how this measure of diversity allows to locate areas that should potentially experience an enhancement of local food systems. In order to better focus our analysis, we will concentrate this project on the Western part of the Mediterranean Basin (WMB) where we will develop and test a methodology to connect the local and the regional scales in a feedback process.
Objectives
- Analyze the land system dynamic in the Mediterranean Basin and to identify their main drivers at different scales.
- Modeling land system changes and their effects on environmental patterns as a result of agricultural practices and species diversity in agricultural landscapes.
- Assess the link between identified environmental patterns and the capacity of the agricultural systems to contribute to the local food system.
Methodology
- Assessment of the current spatial agricultural dynamics, competition between agriculture and other land uses and between different agricultural management practices, from which the main drivers will be carried out at the WMB scale.
- Identification of local drivers of territorial dynamics in terms of governance and stakeholders’ behavior, through studying specific case studies.
- Development of a multi-scale model that investigate the consequences of local and regional land system changes on agricultural practices and species diversity, and on the spatial capabilities for cities to enhance local food systems.
Results (expected/achieved)
- Homogeneous database about land system on WMB. - Current land systems dynamic and mapping of agricultural diversity and biodiversity
indicators. - Local constraints for upscaling and downscaling relations of land and food systems
and mapping of and indicator of local ability to develop food systems.
Impacts
Science-policy interface, progress in the understanding and co-constructions by science and society of land systems that support both biodiversity and socio-economical sustainability Innovation Multi-scale articulation including the whole western North and South Mediterranean region.
68
ENVIROS
Opportunities for an Environmental-friendly Viticulture: optimization of water management and introduction of new Rootstock and Scion genotypes
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Promoting sustainable agriculture for socio-economic development
Keywords Grape, Water stress, Salinity stress, Metabolomics, Transcriptomics
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call-2/enviros
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Enrico PETERLUNGER
University of Udine, Italy
Participating
countries France, Israel, Italy, Slovenia, Spain
Partners
University of Udine, Italy
UMR Ecophysiologie et Génomique Fonctionnelle de la Vigne, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France
University of Nova Gorica, Wine Research Centre, Slovenia
Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Spain
National institute of Biology, Slovenia
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Abstract
Background
Grape production is among the most economically important agricultural activities in the Mediterranean region, particularly for Italy, France and Spain. In the context of climate change and increased consciousness of the negative environmental and public health impacts of agricultural activities (e.g. pesticide application) there is an emphasis on the development of sustainable agricultural approaches in viticulture. Climate change is threatening the sustainability of Mediterranean viticulture where recurrent drought events during the summer have increased the necessity of modern irrigation to maintain yields and quality. This issue is amplified in semi-arid and arid regions. Moreover, climate change is also influencing the availability of water resources, which combined with a growing world population, is increasing competition for water. Therefore, the conservation of freshwater resources through the use of non-conventional sources of water (e.g. reclaimed wastewater) for agriculture is an increasingly relevant alternative. However, this option might lead to salinity issues in
69
the soil depending on the reclaimed water quality and the problem is amplified in saline soils. On the other hand, sustainability is also threatened by pollution. Traditional European wine grape varieties (Vitis vinifera) are highly susceptible to fungal diseases (powdery and downy mildew being the most important). Copper-based fungicides have been used for more than a hundred years in European vineyards. Exposure to these pesticides can result in acute and chronic illnesses for vineyard workers and surrounding communities. Pesticide reduction (or even elimination) represents a primary goal for attaining sustainability in viticulture.
Objectives
Enhance environmental sustainability of winegrape production system with new tools in irrigation management and disease control: - selection of sustainable irrigation strategies in traditional and in resistant varieties. - provide growers with valid solutions to salinity issues while using recycled water. - demonstrate the opportunity to use resistant varieties to diminish the use of
pesticides and improve soil fertility (microbiome, VAM).
Methodology
Experimental trials of water management in traditional and resistant varieties also adopting new salinity tolerant rootstocks: water relations, changes in metabolic pathways, modification of soil microbiome.
Results (expected/achieved)
Reduction in water use and pesticide application New rootstocks behaviour under stress and salinity condition and new resistant varieties behaviour with grape quality comparable or superior to traditional ones.
Environmental and socioeconomic impact of viticulture Reduction of pesticides with resistant varieties will ameliorate soil microbial ecology (fertility), profitability and sustainability of grape production and workers/communities’ health/wellbeing.
Key publications
Savoi, S., Wong, D.C.J., Arapitsas, P., Miculan, M., Bucchetti, B., Peterlunger, E., Fait, A., Mattivi, F., Castellarin, S.D. (2016): Transcriptome and metabolite profiling reveals that prolonged drought modulates the phenylpropanoid and terpenoid pathway in white grapes (Vitis vinifera L.), BMC Plant Biology 16, 67.
Castellarin, S.D., Pfeiffer, A., Sivilotti, P., Degan, M., Peterlunger, E., Di Gaspero, G. (2007). Transcriptional regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in ripening fruits of grapevine under seasonal water deficit, Plant, Cell & Environment, 30, 1381-1399.
Gambetta, G.A., Fei, J., Rost, T.L., Knipfer, T., Matthews, M.A., Schackel, K.A., Walker, M.A., McElrone, M.A. (2013): Water uptake along the length of grapevine fine roots: developmental anatomy, tissue specific aquaporin expression, and pathways of water transport. Plant Physiology, 163, 1254-65.
de Paz, J.M., Albert, C., Visconti, F., Jimenez, M.G., Ingelmo, F., Molina, M.J. (2015): A new methodology to assess the maximum irrigation rates at catchment scale using geostatistics and GIS, Precision Agriculture, 16, 505-531.
Hochberg, U., Degu, A., Cramer, G.R., Rachmilevitch, S., Fait, A. (2015): Cultivar specific metabolic changes in grapevines berry skins in relation to deficit irrigation and hydraulic behavior, Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 88, 42-52.
Hochberg, U., Degu, A., Gendler, T., Fait, A., Rachmilevitch, S. (2015): The variability in the xylem architecture of grapevine petiole and its contribution to hydraulic differences, Functional Plant Biology, 42, 357-365.
Sternad Lemut, M., Sivilotti, P., Butinar, L., Laganis, J., Vrhovšek, U. (2015): Pre-flowering leaf removal alters grape microbial population and offers good potential for a more sustainable and cost-effective management of a Pinot Noir vineyard, Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 3, 439-450
70
IBARMED
Innovative barley breeding approaches to tackle the impact of climatic change in the Mediterranean region
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Promoting sustainable agriculture for socio-economic development
Keywords Barley, Genomic selection, Association mapping, FIGS, Climate change, Yield
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call-2/ibarmed
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Agostino FRICANO
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria (CREA), Italy
Participating
countries Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey
Partners
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Italy
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Lebanon
Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique du Maroc, Morocco
Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisia, Field Crop Laboratory, Tunisia
Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Cukurova, Turkey
Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain
Bahri Dagdas International Research Institute, Turkey
71
Abstract
Background
In the Mediterranean region, barley is the only cereal that can be grown in harsh environments owing to its adaptability in low rainfall and in general is the predominant crop in less favourable, low input and stress prone environments. In less developed Mediterranean countries, barley plays a key role as its grain and straws are the principal feed for livestock. Small ruminants such as sheep and goats are the main livestock in these countries and represent a valuable dietary contribution in rural areas as well as the principal economic output. In richer Mediterranean countries food science and industries are promoting barley use in human diet as functional food, motivated by the excellent profile in fibers, carotenoids, vitamins and microelements, as well as other healthy compounds such as beta-glucans, showing the best nutritional balance among cereal species. Climate change is expected to jeopardize barley yield, yield stability and, therefore, food security across the entire Mediterranean region, a trend already substantiated in some areas during the last years (Moore and Lobel, 2015; Lobell et al., 2011). These challenges, together with the need for greater barley production for food and feed make it urgent to boost barley yields using all available plant breeding techniques.
Objectives
- Enabling faster genetic gain in barley yield: o Testing and deploying of new breeding paradigms to tackle yield stagnation.
- Use of less fertilizers for more sustainable agriculture: Improving NUE without yield penalty: Development of genetic solutions against the predicted drought exacerbation: o Selecting more drought-tolerant barley lines using GS technology. o Discovery of new above and below-ground traits conferring more drought
tolerance. o Development of pre-breeding lines.
Methodology
- Germplasm assembly for GS and association mapping. - Whole genome genotyping of genetic material. - Multi environment field trials and trait phenotyping. - Data analysis and modelling for genomic prediction and association mapping. - Project management, dissemination of results and training of young scientists.
Results (expected/achieved)
- Contributing to increase food security. - Improving soil quality tackling N leaking. - Better barley productivity to increase farmers’ incomes. - Delivering traits and methodology to sustain barley breeding.
72
NANOBIOAGRI
Plant disease biocontrol by means of non-infectious biodegradable proteinaceous nanoparticles
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Promoting sustainable agriculture for socio-economic development
Keywords Plant protection, Biocontrol, Virus-like nanoparticles, Antimicrobial peptides, Plant defence elicitors
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call-2/nanobioagri
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Elodie VANDELLE
Università degli Studi di Verona, Italy
Participating
countries Israel, Italy, Spain
Partners Università degli Studi di Verona, Italy
nstituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria, Spain
Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Israel
Abstract
Background
Pesticides are widely used in agricultural production to reduce crop yield losses and maintain high product quality. However, although pesticides are developed through very strict regulation processes, serious concerns have been raised about health risks and their impacts on environment. Thus there is a current need for alternative crop protection systems with improved safety profiles. The present proposal aims to develop a new form of biocontrol of plant pathogens, through the deployment of fully biodegradable biomolecules. These will be based on targeted peptides with eliciting or antimicrobial activities and viral nanoparticles (VNPs), completely proteinaceous in nature, derived from Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) or Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV). Indeed, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have emerged as key components of the innate immune system in almost all living organisms and have gained a great interest to help plant species fight microbial diseases. However, the majority of AMPs showing potential for plant disease immunity are often tested using in vitro assays.
73
Thus, the greatest challenge remains the functional validation of candidate AMPs in plants and the demonstration of the feasibility of their use for plant protection in the field. However, though efficient, AMPs and ITPs directly applied to plants are poorly stable mainly due to proteolytic digestion. In addition the use of AMPs and ITPs is limited by their low bioavailability and the still prohibitive cost of their synthesis. Together this highlights the need to combine AMPs/ITPs with new delivery techniques for developing sustainable agriculture.
Objectives
- Exploitation of natural defence mechanisms developed by all living organisms to drive the development of new molecules of biocontrol. o Immunity-triggering peptides and antimicrobial peptides.
- Introduction of agriculture into the “nanoworld”. o Small and modifiable empty virus-like particles (VNPs) and molecular farming.
Methodology
Production of VNPs functionalized with peptides - Peptide selection and modelling. - Antimicrobial peptide characteristics and efficiency. - Cloning and expression of functionalized VNPs using two different eVLP platforms. Evaluation of functionalized VNPs in planta - Biosafety/biocompatibility. - Bioavailability. - Stability. - Plant defence induction. Efficiency of functionalized VNPs on different pathosystems and improvement of VNP administration - Efficiency of functionalized VNPs. - Direct of functionalized VNP-containing extracts.
Results (expected/achieved)
- Delivery of innovative nanocompounds for controlling serious plant diseases, which will open new markets for a modern and eco-friendly agriculture.
- Application of nanotechnology in agriculture field for an efficient biological control.
74
PERFORM
Breeding and management practices towards resilient and productive sheep and goat systems based on locally adapted breeds
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Promoting sustainable agriculture for socio-economic development
Keywords Breeds, Small ruminant, Resilience, Livestock Farming Systems, Dynamics
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call-2/perform
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Charles-Henri MOULIN
UMR Systèmes d'Élevage Méditerranéens et Tropicaux, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
Participating
countries Egypt, France, Greece, Morocco
Partners
UMR Systèmes d'Élevage Méditerranéens et Tropicaux, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France
Centre de Coopération International en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, France
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Laboratoire de Recherche sur le Développement de l'Élevage, France
Hellenic Agricultural Organisation - DEMETER, Veterinary Research Institute, Greece
Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco
The Agricultural Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Egypt
Abstract
Background
In the Mediterranean hinterlands livestock activities are often one of the pillars of the livelihoods for rural families. As strong changes are faced by the livestock farmers, the need to improve the resilience of the current production systems is a major stake. The livestock farming systems, especially sheep and goat, are based on the use of an important diversity of locally adapted animal populations, able to valorize scarce and variable feed resources. Those genetic resources are acknowledged as an important means to increase resilience of production systems.
75
Those resources are dynamics, as there is a co-evolution of the farmer practices and the animal populations, as components of a socio-technical system. This co-evolution enables the adaption of the livestock activities to the change of the context (climatic, biophysical, socio-economic, and politic). The aim of the project is to strengthen the capacity of local livestock systems to cope with changes and hazards and to keep supporting the livelihoods of rural families, by developing a global approach of this coevolution between farmer practices and animal populations. Our hypothesis is that the locally adapted breeds are a technical, but also an organizational object supporting the resilience and the productivity of livestock activities in the Mediterranean areas. The project will study the practices and the dynamics of sociotechnical systems using local breeds in various situations in four countries (Morocco, France, Egypt and Greece). Contrasted territories will be studied, with goat and/or sheep production systems, oriented to meat or milk production, with local breeds embedded in selection schemes, or animal population without formal genetic breeding management.
Objectives
- Understand how the genetic practices make the balance between adaptive and productive capacities.
- Understand how a diversity of systems, and the animal populations embedded, contribute to tackle the issue of the resilience of the livestock activities at territory level.
- Design the changes of practices in order to enhance the resilience of the livestock activities.
Methodology
- Studies on practices and their consequences. - Studies of long-term dynamics and current change processes. - Participatory approach to design practices toward more resilient and productive
systems. - Case studies on a variety of territories in the Mediterranean.
Results (expected/achieved)
- Criteria and practices that shape the resilience and productivity of production systems based on locally adapted breeds.
- Shared perspectives for the evolution of practices (technical, organizational practices) and design of appropriate breeding strategies relevant with the evolutions of the Local Livestock Systems.
- Potential evolution of selection schemes taking into account new criteria of adaptive capacities of the animals.
76
PROMEDFOODS
Promotion of local Mediterranean fermented foods through a better knowledge and management of microbial resources
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Valorising local products through food value chains improvement
Keywords Artisanal Fermented foods, Microbial diversity, Microbial resource management, Quality and safety, Technology transfer Enterococcus
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call-2/promedfoods
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Jérôme MOUNIER
Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Laboratoire Universitaire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Microbienne, France
Participating
countries Algeria, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Tunisia
Partners
Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Laboratoire Universitaire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Microbienne, France
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique – UMR Science et Technologie du lait et de l’œuf, France
Institut National des Sciences Appliquées et de Technologie de Tunis (INSAT), Tunisia
Institut INATAA - Laboratoire de Biotechnologie et Qualité des Aliments, Algeria
Hellenic Agricultural Organization - DEMETER, Dairy Research Department, Institute of Technology of Agricultural Products, Greece
Department of Agricultural, Forest & Food Sciences – University of Torino, Italy
Molecular Microbiology, IPLA/Spanish National Research Council, Spain
77
Abstract
Background
Artisanal and traditional fermented foods constitute a significant part of the Mediterranean diet and represent a gastronomical heritage that needs to be preserved and protected. The manufacture and sensorial properties of such products, in contrast to industrial scale fermented foods, relies on complex and poorly defined microbial consortia activities. In this context, the microbiota plays a central role in product-manufacturing. Indeed, the broad microbial diversity together with the use of minimally-processed raw materials and traditional know-how is largely responsible for fermented products attributed sensory complexity and beneficial health properties. However, it can also be responsible quality and shelf-life variability. While maintaining high microbial diversity is necessary to avoid product standardisation, better knowledge about this diversity together with desirable and autochthonous strain selection as well as improved microbial resource management could clearly help local producers to manufacture high quality hygienic fermented products with longer shelf-life. Concerning hygiene and safety, this is particularly important for southern Mediterranean countries where cold chain ruptures regularly occur. The concept of the proposed ProMedFoods project is to directly work with SMEs and SME associations to provide new solutions to better control fermentation processes and more efficiently manage their microbial resources.
Objectives
- Better knowledge of the microbial diversity in local and artisanal fermented foods. - Selection of desirable and autochthonous strains and transfer back to local producers. - Improved microbial resource management. - to help local producers to manufacture high quality hygienic fermented products with
longer shelf-life and constant quality.
Methodology
- In depth description of selected traditional Mediterranean fermented foods. - Microbial diversity of Mediterranean fermented foods. - Preservation of microbial resources, safety evaluation and production of fermented
products with selected strains. - Dissemination, valorization and teaching.
Results (expected/achieved)
- Increased knowledge on the diversity, functions and interactions of microorganisms: o New genes encoding interesting enzymes and pathways may lead to new
biotechnology applications. - Set up of a collection of well-characterized microorganisms available to local
producers (sustainment of biodiversity): o New food microorganisms may be identified and used for new food applications or
products. - Increase in the overall quality and safety of the studied fermented foods:
o Help to reduce food losses and provide an economical advantage to local producers.
78
REALMED
Pursuing authenticity and valorization of Mediterranean traditional products
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Valorising local products through food value chains improvement
Keywords Food authenticity and origin, Traditional Mediterranean products, Value chain, Analytical tools, Database and spatial modelling
Website https://realmedproject.weebly.com
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Cristina MAGUAS
Fundação da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Participating
countries Morocco, Portugal, Slovenia, Tunisia
Partners
Fundação da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Department of Environmental Sciences, Slovenia
Centre National de l'Énergie, des Sciences et des Techniques Nucléaires, Morocco
Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinári, Portugal
Olea Capris z.o.o., Slovenia
University of Primorska, Science and Research Centre, Slovenia
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie, Tunisia
Abstract
Background
Worldwide, consumer demand for food quality and distinctiveness is growing, as well as concern over issues related to food authenticity, geographic origin, health and nutrition and sustainable production. The use of standards and certifications can act as a warranty of quality to gain the trust and confidence of consumers. Indeed, food products have to respond to current ethical, environmental and socially sustainable claims. This is particularly critical in the Mediterranean region, where several unique and traditional food products of an exceptional quality play a fundamental role in local socioeconomic activity and in the conservation of cultural and natural heritage. The latter is under threat from the cumulative impacts of land use and climate change affecting the Mediterranean Basin. REALMed is a project that aims to add value to Mediterranean food products by providing means to assure authenticity and quality.
79
The project is focused on high premium products typical of the national identities involved in the project - Moroccan argan oil, Portuguese and Spanish meat products from Iberian black pigs, Italian and Slovenia truffles and Tunisian lamb. With such a selection of products we will achieve, through a comprehensive set of activities, including national and international benchmarking, an assessment and analysis of national capacity needs, as well as opportunities for value chain improvements.
Objectives
- Mediterranean Identity Label: Recognise, certify and defend local products and increase competitiveness, sustainability and implement prevention of frauds.
- Cooperation platform of experts: Food traceability and authenticity, Balanced partner structure and Operational after the project’s closure.
Methodology
- Analytical point of view: composition and properties. - Techniques: Isotope ratio mass spectrometry, Multi-isotope ratio analysis, Elemental
profiling, DNA-based genetic methods. - Product (DATA): Product-specific chemical characterization, Combination of stable
isotope ratios (heavy, light) with the elemental profile, Genetic. - Social-economic point of view / stakeholders: At country/product level (A national
review on provenance and authenticity, Focal groups: producers+agro-industrial traders+certifying entity+administration+consumer associations+the project team, Database on each product); At transnational level (Mediterranean Identity Label, Models, Database GIS + Isoscapes Maps, Platform of Experts).
Results (expected / achieved)
Realmed will provide concrete, readily applicable tools tested on different local products of the Mediterranean and elsewhere. The expected outcome is to add value to Traditional High Premium Products of the Mediterranean, by supporting the scientific community and stakeholders with solid information on the geograohic origin and authenticity of these products. Development of “User friendly information tools” and experts platform.
80
SEMIARID
Sustainable and Efficient Mediterranean farming systems: Improving Agriculture Resilience through Irrigation and Diversification
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Promoting sustainable agriculture for socio-economic development
Keywords Resilience and adaptive capacity, Ecosystem services, Biophysical and household bio-economic models, Production and consumption decisions, Climate and market shocks
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call-2/semiarid
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Hatem BELHOUCHETTE
Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéenne - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Participating
countries Algeria, France, Morocco
Partners
Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéenne - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Morocco
Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, France
École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique, Algeria
81
Abstract
Background
In a context of climate, socio-economic, policy and institutional changes, the Mediterranean region (MR) needs to strengthen its food and nutrition security, while improving its natural resource management. The major challenges are: i) making agricultural food production systems highly resilient to water shortage and climate and market shocks; ii) combining food production and provision of ecosystem services in a “sustainable intensification” of farming systems to meet the ever growing food demand; iii) sustaining rural populations, ensuring farming profitability and employment and iv) providing rural and urban consumers with safe and nutritious, culturally acceptable and economically accessible food. Using the multi-scale and multi-domain Integrated Assessment of Agricultural Systems (IAAS) approach, the SEMIARID project aims at assessing the resilience of Mediterranean farming systems in relation with their crop diversity, water management, farm structure and food production strategy, in order to evaluate whether they can maintain high productivity and provision of ecosystem services in the face of possible climate and socio-economic changes/shocks. The combination of biophysical and household bio-economic models will allow capturing both production and consumption decisions of farming households and environmental facets of farming activity and to identify levers of action to improve these performances.
Objectives
- Assessing, by using Integrated Modelling approach, the resilience of Mediterranean farming systems in the face of climate and socio-economic changes/shocks.
- Agricultural systems that combine more diverse components would support both the resilience of agricultural systems and water resource use efficiency.
- The relationship between field level efficiency and farm level efficiency depends on the number and nature of the activities coexisting on the farm and on the mode of combination (spatial and temporal) of crops in a field.
Methodology
- The exploration of the role of intra-farm and inter-farm diversity in determining the resilience and adaptability of Mediterranean agricultural systems.
- The implementation of a modelling framework for integrated impact assessment to explore different scenarios of diversity and adaptiveness developed in interaction with local stakeholders.
- The emergence of a multidisciplinary group of Mediterranean researchers and students supported by an international course on integrated modelling for resilience assessment and integrated impact analysis.
Results (expected/achieved)
- Propose alternative strategies for sustainable intensification of agriculture systems in dry land area, contributing to the development of a research community in the Mediterranean Region.
- The resilience and adaptation strategies of Mediterranean farming systems. - IAAS approach in interaction with policy-makers and stakeholders. - Train PhD and post-doc students in IAAS approach in close collaboration with other
initiatives (FSD, ESA, etc.).
82
VIPACFOOD
Valorization of Industrial fruits byProducts and algae biomass waste: Development of Active Coatings to extend Food shelf life and reduce food losses
Call ARIMNet2 2016
Topic Valorising local products through food value chains improvement
Keywords Tomatoes, Shelf life, Active coatings, ByProducts, Biomass waste
Website http://www.arimnet2.net/index.php/researchprojects/projects-2nd-call-2/vipacfood
Start – end 2017 – 2020
Coordinator
Dr Khaoula KHWALDIA
Institut National de Recherche et d'Analyse Physico-chimique, Tunisia
Participating
countries Italy, Portugal, Spain
Partners
Institut National de Recherche et d'Analyse Physico-chimique, Tunisia
ProdAlScarl, Italy
Università di Catania, Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A, Italy
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
InstitutoNacionalde SaúdeDoutor Ricardo Jorge, Portugal
Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Abstract
Background
The food sector in the Mediterranean area is strategic (prosperity, employment, rural
livelihoods, job creation, economic development).
The aim is to provide affordable and healthy food to their inhabitants:
- Foodborne illness and intoxications are still increasing. - The contamination of fresh produce with pathogens (poor farming and food
harvesting practices; inadequate storage and packaging materials, disposal of solid waste on land...).
- Tomato is among the most consumed fruits in the world (high content of carotenoids and other natural antioxidants). However, it is highly perishable and prone to postharvest diseases (economic losses).
83
Objectives
- Valorize industrial fruits byproducts and algae biomass waste. - Develop and validate postharvest technologies.
Methodology
Production of novel products and recovery of value-added components from fruits and vegetables byproducts and algae biomass: - Recovery of value-added components from tomato by-products, Inclusion of valued-
added fractions into food matrices (pasta, bread),Design and optimization of process conditions for semidry small-sized tomatoes and tomato chips, Determination of the antioxidant activity of by-products/waste of fruits and waste of agar-agar industry.
Development of post-harvest technologies to improve shelf life and reduce spoilage for tomatoes and dry fatty foods: - Development of novel films and coatings incorporating value-added components
from fruits by-products and algae waste for tomatoes, Development of combined treatments, Development of new active flexible films containing the extracted bioactive compounds.
Impact of the proposed postharvest technologies on the selected local products: - Application of active coatings on tomatoes and evaluation of their effect on quality
and safety of tomatoes fruits, Scaling up of the most efficient method for the reduction of postharvest loss tomatoes, Evaluation of migration/diffusion of bioactive substances previously extracted and incorporated in coatings and packaging materials, Dissemination and exploitation of results, Development of a communication, dissemination and training strategy.
Results (expected/achieved)
Economic contribution to the development of the bio-based economy: - Enhance economic efficiency/increase competitiveness: For local producers: they
may valorize their by-products, decrease the associated costs of waste disposal and create new economic opportunities; For SMEs: increase eco-innovation, support innovative SMEs developing new bio based compounds.
Potential health and environmental impacts: - Development of innovating packaging industry (bioactive packaging) and Bioactive
materials/Added value materials: Valorization of by-products, reduction of food waste and loss, enhancement of food quality & shelf life.
