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Unlocking the potential of Orphan Crops

Objectif

Diversifying arable cropping systems with novel crops is key to the agroecological transition. The challenge is to identify species adapted to local, current and future conditions, while enhancing agroecosystem multifunctionality and robustness. Orphan crops - cultivated species neglected by research and breeding - offer great potential for agroecological innovation, especially in simplified temperate systems. Yet a major bottleneck is that the global pool of orphan crop species remains uncharacterised, hindering the identification of promising candidates for diversification. I will overcome this bottleneck by grounding the study of orphan crops in functional ecology. I hypothesize that limited domestication and directional selection give orphan crops distinct positions in the plant functional trait space, generating trait combinations that i) complement major crops, ii) enhance system-level multifunctionality and iii) promote yield robustness under stress. To test this, I will 1) profile the global pool of orphan crops to uncover macroecological patterns in their domestication intensity and functional diversity ; 2) quantify the agroecological niches and diversification potential of orphan cereals, oilseeds, and pulses (3) experimentally investigate the physiological mechanisms underpinning orphan crop yield robustness under abiotic stress, guided by trait-based theory. This cross-scale, integrative approach will generate generalizable principles to guide crop diversification and selection under climate uncertainty. OrphanCrop will provide a timely breakthrough in agricultural science and agroecology, delivering transformative resources for research and breeding communities - including a quantitative criterion of domestication intensity, a global open-access crop trait database, and a cross-species core collection. Together, these outputs will offer a new generation of tools for breeders, farmers, and other stakeholders driving the agroecological transition.

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Programme(s)

Thème(s)

Régime de financement

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Appel à propositions

(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) ERC-2026-STG

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Institution d’accueil

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE POUR L'AGRICULTURE, L'ALIMENTATION ET L'ENVIRONNEMENT
Contribution nette de l'UE
€ 391 730,00
Coût total
€ 1 498 342,00

Bénéficiaires (2)