Research

RISE-SOY aims to provide knowledge on the plasticity of physiological and biochemical adjustments of soybean to water-limiting conditions associated with yield and quality stability, and to identify digital physiological marker as well as enzymatic signatures indicative of high metabolic plasticity under stressful conditions. This will contribute to healthy food (nutrition) by increasing sustainable, climate-resilient plant protein production, particularly GMO-free, domestic soybean-based protein production under changing environmental conditions. To achieve its goals, RISE-SOY will pursue a novel and innovative approach of functional trait evaluation (drought tolerance) of high-quality food grade soybean including specialty lines such as those with increased levels of spermidine or hypo-allergenicity. RISE-SOY will combine next-generation physiological markers obtained from hyperspectral reflectance imaging and biochemical analyses of enzyme activity signatures to assess metabolic responses important/indicative for drought tolerance with quality and agronomic traits from field and controlled trials. This will significantly advance technologies/approaches to enable a climate-resilient plant-based food production for healthy nutrition in Lower Austria and beyond.

The overall goal of this innovation action is to improve the competitiveness of European legume crops. This will be achieved by establishing focused innovation partnerships between research- and industry-based players who together will increase the availability of well-adapted and productive cultivars of key legumes species. The partnership framework is designed to be sustained after the project ends with the ability to expand into other species. There are twelve objectives. Six of these relate to cross-cutting (generic) matters that arise from the call topic. Six are focused on the improvement of specific species, or groups of similar species: Soya bean Lupin Pea Common bean Lentil Clovers BOKU engagement in WPs: Soybean (J. Vollmann, R. Hood-Nowotny) Lupin (J. Strauss)

European cereal production experiences an ongoing intensification on wheat and barley at the expense of minor cereals including einkorn, emmer, oat, rye and spelt. This specialisation leads to continuous loss in agricultural biodiversity and marginalisation of traditional land management systems. A diversification of cropping systems by minor cereals offer benefits with respect to agronomic management, grain processing, nutritional quality, health promotion and numerous ecosystem services. Enhanced plant breeding efforts are of strategic importance to improve the competitiveness of minor cereals in European agriculture. Rye is the only cross-pollinated small-grain cereal, which results in a unique complexity concerning the genetic improvement of rye and underlines the need for rye-specific research concepts. Plant architectural traits are important breeding targets to improve crops yield potential and food security. The overall goal of RYE-SUS is to develop, test and model gibberellin-sensitive semi-dwarf rye genotypes with optimized harvest index, improved lodging resistance, high yield potential and drought tolerance as well as minimised risk of ergot infestation for a sustainable intensification also in marginal production environments. To improve rye competitiveness in European agriculture, RYE-SUS aims to i) make use of hybrid breeding as a cutting edge technology of crop improvement and genome-based precision breeding to increase target-specific selection efficiency and accelerate breeding processes in rye, ii) develop new genotypes leading to improved lodging and drought tolerance, iii) proof the practical potential of genotypes with a novel plant architecture in target environments, which challenge rye cultivation by potentially growth-limiting factors such as drought, frost, or nutrient deficiencies, iv) minimize the risk of extremely toxic ergot alkaloids in the harvest, v) exploit natural genetic diversity in adaptive traits and develop new molecular technologies which support niche range expansion of highly productive rye hybrids in cold climate ecosystems, and vi) develop and exploit a crop model to simulate the growth and development of rye under potentially growth-limiting factors as a tool to support novel integrated pest and crop management methods and practices.