GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Projects will contribute to the development of crops (annual and perennial) and forest trees that are more tolerant to abiotic stress conditions, require less external inputs (e.g. fertilisers and pesticides) and show an increased capacity for carbon sequestration, thereby contributing to adaptation of agriculture and forestry to climate change. Proposals should:

• Identify root traits that increase resource efficiency of plants in different environments, taking into account beneficial plant – microbe interactions and the restitution of plant-fixed carbon to the soil;
• Increase our knowledge on the (molecular and biochemical) plasticity of root responses and their metabolic mechanisms to environmental cues;
• Improve existing and/or develop new root phenotyping tools (including image analysis protocols) to be used in controlled and on-field conditions, thereby overcoming the root data bottleneck;
• Develop strategies to implement “root breeding”, i.e. select for desirable root characteristics and exploit the genetic variation in root traits.

Activities should be carried out in a range of agronomically relevant soil conditions.