Thanks to their particular biotic community, soils vary in their suppressiveness towards root diseases caused by phytopathogenic fungi on crop plants. However, the link between soil biodiversity and suppressiveness and the range of deleterious organisms that are controlled by this mechanism are poorly characterized. This project aims at developing an integrated understanding of the relation between soil biodiversity and crop protection, using soils of contrasting suppressiveness status in several countries, in a context of global change materialized by changes in crops and in pathogen/pest importance. Two approaches will be followed: (i) the comparison of emblematic soils known to be suppressive or conducive (such soils are available in Switzerland and France), and (ii) the comparison of soils under different agricultural management strategies (e.g. with soil organic matter-based management practices aiming at enhancing soil biodiversity, including in long-term experiments), which have the potential to result in different levels of suppressiveness (such conditions have been investigated in Germany). First, current knowledge gaps on suppressiveness will be filled, based on (i) chromatographic profiling of soil (to assess soil organic matter quality, which might represent a potential indicator of suppressiveness), (ii) assessment of disease suppressiveness in relation to crop plant physiology and defense status, (iii) metabarcoding of microbial taxonomic biodiversity, and (iv) molecular monitoring of microbial functional groups under controlled conditions. Second, the significance of suppressiveness under global change will be characterized, by assessing (i) the extent of disease suppressiveness on emerging crops (with a focus on wheat), (ii) the possibility of suppressiveness towards insect pests, and (iii) the contribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, a symbiotic partner neglected so far in this context, to disease suppressiveness. Third, the applicability of project findings to agronomic field conditions will be determined, based on specific monitoring of (i) phytopathogens and (ii) insect pest populations, (iii) metabolomic profiling of crops, and (iv) the analysis of the rhizosphere microbiota in fields. The project involves a multidisciplinary consortium of 6 partners in 3 countries, ranging from prominent academic research groups to field extension specialists to facilitate outreach to the farming community and other stakeholders. This project is expected to generate new knowledge on phytoprotection and the importance of biodiversity in suppressiveness. This knowledge will be important to develop novel biodiversity indicators of soil quality, and to define management strategies to improve crop health in soils with poor or no suppressiveness properties and facing the challenge of global change.

In Europe, fruit production is essential as a supplier of food that is beneficial to public health and to provide value and jobs. It may also play an important role in agroecology transition. But currently, fruit production is very dependent on the use of phytosanitary products and vulnerable to climatic change (CC). Most cultivated varieties are susceptible to diseases and pests, and CC already has a significant impact on the phenology and regularity of production of important fruit species such as apple, peach and apricot. Emerging major agronomic issues for the fruit sector are thus related to input reduction and resilience to CC. The challenge is therefore to accelerate the transition to low-input, sustainable fruit production systems based on adapted and resilient plant material. In this context, the proposed project aims at organizing a consortium for preparing the submission to H2020 call SFS28B “Adding value to genetic resources”, and more specifically building a proposition for adding value to European Rosaceae fruit tree genetic resources (GR). An enormous reservoir of GR is available in cultivated species and wild relatives of fruit species. Those GR are scattered over Europe in various germplasm banks and numerous amatory associations. This reservoir is only scarcely used even though the scattering of germplasm collections over Europe can be seen as an opportunity to monitor and characterize accessions adaptation in diverse and changing environments. Indeed, fruit species have to face multiple sources of stress generated by CC and biotic constraints due to the duration of their cultivated life span (usually a few decades). However, a better use of RG would require that homogeneous and accurate phenotyping and genotyping processes are developed and shared by conservators, curators, geneticists, breeders, nonprofessional organizations and growers. This project will be based on a consortium involved in conservation and characterization of GR throughout Europe that aims at improving their harmonization, exploration and use in different environment, cultivation systems and usages. For this, the project will pay attention to the diversity of institutions to associate to the initial consortium and to demonstration and dissemination activities. By gathering academic skills, private breeders and companies and public associations, the consortium will ambition breakthrough in the characterization of new traits related to biotic and abiotic constraints and adaptation to diverse environments. The project will include actions to: - Characterize existing germplasm collections, as well as wild related germplasm, for new traits, making use of new methodologies, including “omis” and modelling, that will be shared among partners. - Enrich collections of domesticated material with wild related species, when necessary. - Enrich, give access to and share existing and new phenotypic, genotypic and ‘omics’ information collected during the project, through existing databases organized under SFS28-A. - Implement innovative approaches to unravel genes/QTLs for characters of interest in Rosaceeae fruit species, integrate omics-derived and new biotechnology information. - Address methodological questions related to trait combination and introgression of new desirable traits revealed in collections or in the wild compartment into elite material, in accordance with user’s needs. - Generate pre-breeding materials These actions are expected to reinforce and galvanize European network involved in Rosaceae species GR for adding value to and increasing the utilization of the preserved germplasm.

In all modern agricultural crops, the improvement of vegetable production of economic interest is based mainly on the control of pests and vectors of diseases. Pesticides application involves the use of chemicals with insecticidal, fungicidal, bactericidal properties. However, the expansion of their field application has created serious problems impacting human health and animals. In addition, excessive use of pesticides can leach into soils and water leading to land as well as groundwater pollution and wider biodiversity losses. Some of these products currently used to control pests are extremely toxic in inducing serious human diseases, such as cancer and immune and nervous system disorders. Current use of plant protection products in conventional and/or organic farming systems should be reconsidered taking in account their side effect on environment, non-target organisms, animal and human health. Such potential risk can be reduced through development, testing and demonstrating of approaches based on products safe for environment and life. This project aims to release to the market an innovative solution combining a new competitive biopesticide to cultural trainings aiming to reduce land and water pollution through new agricultural practices. SAFWA specific challenges are to meet the requirement of the EU regulation regarding the registration of safe biopesticides and to provide an environment in which agriculture production contributes to reduce the pollution of the water and the land. The main goal of SAFWA is to market a new alternative intended to minimize the risk associated with the use of pesticides. Biopesticides, based on two sporulating (BLB1, LIP) and one non sporulating (S22) Bacillus thuringiensis strains, will be used in the field assays to treat olive, citrus and pomegranate trees as well as tomato to protect these different cultures against five pest species. SAFWA will build on the ongoing European project IPM-4-Citrus achievements both at technological and market assessment levels to drive new cultural practices to farmers in 3 experimental farms around the Mediterranean.