Developing sustainable solutions for viticulture through multi-actor innovation targeting breeding for integrated pest management

Project Information

GrapeBreed4IPM

Grant agreement ID: 101132223

DOI

10.3030/101132223

EC signature date 22 November 2023

Start date 1 April 2024

End date 31 March 2028

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 5 000 000,00

EU contribution

€ 5 000 000,00

Coordinated by

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE POUR L'AGRICULTURE, L'ALIMENTATION ET L'ENVIRONNEMENT
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GrapeBreed4IPM (Developing sustainable solutions for viticulture through multi-actor innovation targeting breeding for integrated pest management)

Reporting period: 2024-04-01 to 2025-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

European viticulture faces rising pressure to reduce pesticide use, adapt to climate change, and meet evolving environmental and societal expectations. Fungal diseases such as downy mildew, powdery mildew and black rot remain major threats to production, leading to high fungicide dependency. Disease-Resistant Varieties (DRVs), also called PIWIs, offer one of the most effective ways to cut chemical inputs, improve vineyard sustainability, and strengthen biodiversity. Yet their large-scale adoption is still limited by technical, regulatory, economic, and cultural barriers. GrapeBreed4IPM brings together leading research institutes, breeders, winegrowers, and market actors from across Europe to accelerate the development and deployment of DRVs. Its goal is to provide new resistant varieties adapted to diverse European regions, understand and monitor resistance durability, develop improved management practices, and support growers and consumers in adopting these innovations. The project combines genetic research, field experimentation, socio-economic analysis, and capacity building. By the end of the project, partners aim to deliver new varieties ready for registration, more efficient breeding tools, science-based management guidelines, and a consolidated European framework for long-term monitoring of resistance and environmental performance.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first 18 months, the project established the scientific, technical, and collaborative foundations needed to reach its objectives.
GrapeBreed4IPM created the first Europe-wide multi-actor platform dedicated to DRVs. Expert groups were established in all participating countries, involving growers, advisors, researchers, policymakers, and consumers. A shared methodology now enables parallel surveys across stakeholder groups, producing the first Europe-wide overview of DRV acceptance, adoption barriers, and regulatory constraints.
Major progress was achieved in understanding disease-resistance mechanisms. Partners refined the genetic mapping of key virulence and resistance loci for downy mildew and advanced the identification of pathogen effector genes involved in the interaction. Difficulties arose for cloning large resistance genes, while molecular markers for monitoring pathogen virulence were successfully developed. Work on endogenous RNA interference described the landscape of siRNA precursor expression and their siRNA production in grapevine.
Significant advances were made in breeding and trait analysis. Several strong resistance loci for black rot were identified and validated, and the first marker toolkits for marker-assisted selection were developed. A European-wide network of phenotyping and genotyping sites is now in place to build next-generation genomic selection models for agronomic and oenological traits. In parallel, regional breeding programs progressed through full selection cycles, establishing field trials aimed at delivering varieties for registration by the end of the project.
New Genomic Techniques were initiated for targeted resistance introduction. Efficient regeneration systems were established, first edited lines were obtained, and cisgenic lines carrying a resistance gene were regenerated. Genome-stability analysis pipelines were created to ensure the safety of regenerated material.
The project launched the first European observatory for monitoring DRVs in real conditions. OSCAR-EU now includes 54 plots across nine partners. Harmonized monitoring protocols are being finalized and a multilingual digital platform to support long-term surveillance of resistance durability and pathogen evolution is in development. In parallel, coordinated decision support system (DSS)-based crop-protection trials were conducted across four countries, while the first biodiversity-monitoring campaigns were completed.
Dissemination and communication activities ensured strong visibility. A multilingual website was launched, ten practice abstracts were published, numerous conferences and workshops were organized, and collaborations were established with other European initiatives. A serious game was developed to train growers on sustainable resistance management.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project has already delivered several advances that go significantly beyond current scientific and operational practices:
• The first integrated European methodology combining expert, farmer, consumer, and value-chain perspectives on DRVs.
• New molecular markers enabling earlier monitoring of pathogen virulence, a key step to safeguard durability of resistance.
• The discovery of new black rot resistance loci and associated marker toolkits that will accelerate breeding pipelines.
• The first large-scale application of impedance and berry-skin traits on DRVs to objectively predict their susceptibility to Botrytis bunch rot and other pests.
• First edited grapevine lines targeting susceptibility genes, and the first cisgenic lines screened for genome integrity.
• Initiation of a harmonized, multinational observatory to monitor DRVs in commercial vineyards.
• New DSS adaptations specifically calibrated for DRVs.
Further progress will rely on additional research to complete gene identification, expand phenotyping and genotyping datasets, refine DSS models, validate biodiversity indicators, and support variety registration across Europe. Additional needs include legal clarity on NGTs, stronger PDO rules enabling DRV integration, coordinated EU-wide communication, and long-term monitoring infrastructures.

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