A DUTCH research project entitled CropXR, which is focusing on the faster development of extra resilient (eXtra Resilient) crops, has received 43 million euros of government investment through the National Growth Fund (Nationaal Groeifonds).
The project is focusing on data science and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and additional funding has also been contributed by Utrecht University, the University of Amsterdam, Wageningen University & Research and Delft University of Technology.
Project leader Guido van den Ackerveken said CropXR functions as a virtual institute that houses and facilitates research.
The programme will examine what makes plants resilient to environmental stress, how to properly map this out and how to use this knowledge within breeding.
"We’ll combine this fundamental research programme with technological development. The focal point of the first half of the ten-year process is the methodology: How do you get the most meaningful information from measurement data in order to improve our understanding of plant resilience?" said Guido.
"We can collect a lot of measurement data, but the bottleneck is converting this data into knowledge. The use of AI should provide a major breakthrough here, in smart ways that make much better use of that data. Subsequently, the developed methodology will be translated to the various crops that play a role within CropXR. Besides the potato, we also work on a number of vegetable crops such as tomatoes, lettuce, cabbages (Brassicas) and onions, and in floriculture we’ll work on the chrysanthemum."
Guido said CropXR has developed crop-specific satellite programmes. "We’re not going to work intensively on most crops until the second five years, but with the potato we’ll already be starting up seriously in the first year," he said.
Two large field trials will be set up in the next growing season, with resilience characteristics, such as how plants cope with stress factors, being mapped out. For another experiment, related to the microbiome of the potato, a group of researchers from Utrecht University will sample the roots of potato plants at various locations in the Netherlands. They’ll be mapping microbiomes, and then looking at their effect on potato growth and resilience in an experimental setting.
"Robust crops are extremely important, but they don’t always get enough attention in breeding at the moment," Guido said.
A consortium called HIP (Holland Innovative Potato) consisiting of public and private-sector key players in the potato value chain, is the industrial partner for potato projects within CropXR.
"Because HIP wants to start with their potato research already in the first phase, they cannot yet use the new technology and methodology that we’re developing at the same time. They’ll therefore approach the research from a different angle, for example with field trials. Ultimately, those two approaches will come together. That’s an interesting set-up that could turn out very well’, said Guido.
By the end of the first five years, the project is expected to have mapped out certain properties that could be used in breeding.
"If you know which properties you need to bring together in a variety, you can take very targeted breeding steps. Bringing different properties together does make the breeding process more complex. We have to find the right balance in this. But when it comes to very important resilience properties, it’s worth spending time on them. Ultimately, each breeding company will decide for itself what knowledge it takes on board and which parts will be used in their breeding processes," Guido said.
Source: CropXR / Potato World
