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A NOVEL AND INTEGRATED APPROACH TO INCREASE MULTIPLE AND COMBINED STRESS TOLERANCE IN PLANTS USING TOMATO AS A MODEL

Project description

Helping tomatoes overcome combined stress

Tomato crops are one of the most extensively cultivated agricultural commodities in Europe. They are grown in many countries, both in open fields and protected enclosures. However, the cultivation of tomatoes is threatened by water and nutrient stress. The EU-funded TomRes project aims to provide a much-needed solution through extensive research and development efforts. The project will begin by carefully selecting a variety of accessions that exhibit tolerance to stress while maintaining high quality and yield. This process involves identifying desirable traits that contribute to stress tolerance. The project will also conduct rigorous testing and optimisation of farming strategies. The ultimate goal of TomRes is to provide farmers and specialists with valuable data and results.

Objective

Tomato is a main EU agricultural commodity, cultivated all over Europe in open and protected field and in glasshouses, representing a biological and agronomical model crop. Combined water and nutrient stress is a major problem for tomato farmers and solutions are needed to safeguard yields, while preserving the environment.
TOMRES will select, among over 10,000 available accessions, rootstocks and scions tolerating combined stress, while retaining fruit quality and yield, taking advantage of innovative screening approaches. Novel traits, in particular belowground, to be exploited in breeding, will be identified. The role of selected hormones (strigolactones and brassinosteroids) will be studied to identify further resilience traits.
TOMRES will test and optimize sustainable crop management strategies such as legume intercropping, precision fertilization and irrigation techniques, manipulation of symbiotic microorganisms, and the use of rootstocks more suited to water and nutrient uptake from the soil.
Novel genotypes X management strategies will be developed with the goal of reducing N and P application by at least 20%, water input by 40%, while granting environmental sustainability and economic viability of the solutions proposed.
Testing will be integrated with analysis of environmental (greenhouse emissions, water quality), and of socio-economic impact. Agronomical, environmental, and economical data will be processed to construction of models and of a Decision Support System.
Demonstration and dissemination activities will follow the whole course of the project, and will transfer the results to different environments and other cropping systems, thus ensuring the widest impact of the gained knowledge on the EU economy. Trans-disciplinary knowledge transfer among farmers, breeders, industries, associations and scientists will be granted by a solid multi-actor approach since the planning stage.

Call for proposal

H2020-SFS-2016-2017

See other projects for this call

Sub call

H2020-SFS-2016-2

Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO
Net EU contribution
€ 854 145,00
Address
Via giuseppe verdi 8
10124 Torino
Italy

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Region
Nord-Ovest Piemonte Torino
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost
€ 854 145,00

Participants (25)