Contexte

Modern crops are increasingly vulnerable to climate change and pests, threatening global food security. Crop wild relatives (CWR), which are wild species related to our crops, hold untapped genetic potential to enhance resilience and nutrition. However, their diversity and potential are underutilised, and their conservation is often neglected. This shortfall hinders our ability to face agricultural challenges effectively. The EU-funded PRO-WILD project aims to bridge this gap by focusing on wheat, sugar beet, and oilseed rape. With 18 partners from 11 countries, PRO-WILD works to conserve CWRs. Efforts include identifying conservation priorities, expanding gene bank collections, and improving crop resilience through CWR traits. This project supports EU Green Deal goals by strengthening food system resilience and sustainability.

Objectives

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are wild plant species genetically related to cultivated crops. Their untapped diversity can enhance resilience to biotic and abiotic stress and the nutritional quality of modern crops. Wheat, sugar beet, and oilseed rape were selected by PRO-WILD because of their importance to food security and EU farmers and because some of their wild relatives are endemic to Europe. Moreover, these CWRs constitute a rich and under-exploited resource needed to face challenges linked to climate change and the transition to low-input agriculture. The genetic diversity and vulnerability of these CWRs must be better characterized to optimize their conservation and utilization. The objectives of PRO-WILD are to identify priorities for in-situ conservation of the selected CWR gene pools, to survey and complement CWR genebanks collections, and to increase the use of CWRs in crop improvement. PRO-WILD associates 18 partners from 11 EU and associated countries with expertise in ecology, conservation, genomics, pathology, microbiology, plant breeding, agriculture, and sociology.

Activities

PRO-WILD will compile and analyse CWR occurrence maps and perform new in-situ collections. It will predict the vulnerability of several CWR species and populations to ongoing climate changes. Ex-situ collections will be complemented with endangered CWRs accessions. PRO-WILD will investigate the resilience of CWR collections for relevant biotic and abiotic stresses. The identification of CWR-derived desired traits and their transfer into elite backgrounds will be done to promote CWR use. Overall, PRO-WILD specific goals will be coordinated with input from breeders, farmers, and consumers. PRO-WILD outcomes will contribute to European Green Deal initiatives through research, education, and training. It will serve the EU biodiversity and the Farm to Fork strategies by preserving, characterizing, and utilising wild species that have unique importance for the resilience of our food systems.