Root beneficial microbes - fit for a changing agriculture?

Under COST Action CA22142 – ROOT-BENEFIT (www.root-benefit.eu), Working Group 4: ‘Managing and improving beneficial interaction networks under field conditions’ is focused on facilitating the implementation of scientifically well-supported strategies for improvement and introduction of beneficial root-associated microorganisms in agriculture.

This workshop, on ‘Root beneficial microbes – fit for a changing agriculture?’ is aimed at stakeholders, and intends to explore knowledge, experiences, trust, doubts and expectations, as well as contribute to identifying barriers and key challenges limiting the use of beneficial microbes in agricultural production settings. It will be a workshop with flash talks and enough allocated time for exchange and discussion between the different stakeholders: product producers, traders, users, consultants, regulators, lobbyists and academia.

Root beneficial microbes as biostimulant or biopesticide will be discussed. Beneficial root-associated microorganisms, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, nodule-inducing nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, and plant growth-promoting bacteria / fungi, are key players for crop productivity in low-input systems. Identification of environmental and genetic determinants controlling their interactions with crops is paramount for the development of a more sustainable agriculture, and this requires multi-disciplinary research approaches. However, the research field remains fragmented, and beneficial microorganism interactions with plant roots are often overlooked in agricultural management practices or breeding programs.

ROOT-BENEFIT aims to bring together specialists of these different types of beneficial interactions working at different levels of study, together with socio-economic actors, to create a network to: i) sum up and disseminate the current knowledge on agronomic, environmental and economic criteria characterizing the services provided by beneficial root-associated microorganisms, ii) perform meta-analyses with existing datasets, iii) identify gaps in the current knowledge and define future research priorities, iv) propose methodologies and strategies for implementing or improving crop interactions with beneficial root-associated microorganisms in agriculture, and v) propose recommendations on microbial applications to inoculant producers, policy-makers and end-user farmers. Overall, ROOT-BENEFIT will strengthen the European research capacity and leadership on beneficial root-associated microorganisms, and facilitate knowledge transfer to socio-economic actors and inclusiveness towards European and Mediterranean countries.