Root ideotype for water stress environments
Problem
Water excess (waterlogging) and deficit (drought) can severely limit crop growth and productivity. As the global climate changes, instances of extreme rainfall or periods of no rainfall are increasing. This will have an impact on global and local crop productivity. Crops access water via their root systems. The resilience of crops to drought and waterlogging conditions is impacted by how well they are rooted in the soil and by the architectural, anatomical and biochemical makeup of their root systems.
Solution
Root traits with evidence for improving resilience to waterlogging and/or drought were developed into root ideotypes (a model of an ideal root system), with priority root traits indicated where more evidence was available. Ideotypes have been developed for cereal, faba bean and potato crop species, considering the four different environmental scenarios of waterlogging, early drought, late drought and water stress (a combinations of these).
Benefits
Through breeding and managing these crop species to exhibit these ideal root traits, water capture will be improved, enhancing crop yield in water stress prone environments and improving crop resilience to a changing climate and weather extremes.
For more information and practical recommendations, please see:
https://zenodo.org/records/19564449
Root phenotyping and genetic improvement for rotational crops resilient to environmental change
Ongoing | 2022-2027
- Main funding source
- Horizon Europe (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Geographical location
- France, Slovenia, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Morocco, South Africa