The effects of agricultural management on seed agronomic and nutritional quality of soya bean and on plant-associated microbiota
Agricultural management affects plant performance, yield and also soil and plant-associated microbial communities, also termed microbiota or microbiomes. Plants host very specific microbiota, which are important for plant growth and health as they contribute to nutrient provision and plant stress resilience. It can be expected that agricultural management and plant-associated microbiota also influence plant quality traits such as agronomic seed quality or the nutritional content of plants or seeds specifically.
In MICROBIOMES4SOY we assess if and how agricultural management including the application of newly developed microbial inoculants affect plant performance and seed quality. Greenhouse, lysimeter and field experiments are performed to provide information on:
- which agronomic practises favour soya bean yields and influence agronomic quality and nutritional content of soya bean seeds
- whether microbial inoculation practises, either by applying individual microbial strains or a combination of selected strains, can improve stress (e.g., drought) resilience of soya bean plants
- whether microbial inoculation practises, either by applying individual microbial strains or a combination of selected strains, can improve seed quality aiming to achieve “microbiome-improved seeds”. Apart from agronomic traits, we will specifically address nutritional quality of seeds targeting e.g., protein content or contents of antinutritional factors.
Additional information
Field trials have been performed in Italy (Bologna). Plant traits were assessed in Italy, whereas the plant microbiome and seed quality have been analysed in Austria (Vienna, Tulln).
Healthier diets and sustainable food and feed systems through employing microbiomes for soya production and further use
Ongoing | 2024-2028
- Main funding source
- Horizon Europe (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Geographical location
- Austria
Project Keywords
- Agro-ecology
- Aquaculture
- Supply chain, marketing and consumption
- Food security, safety, quality, processing and nutrition
- Climate change (incl. GHG reduction, adaptation and mitigation, and other air related issues)
- Soil
- Plant nutrients
- AKIS, incl. advice, training, on-farm demo, interactive innovation projects