Accelerating the development of breeding tools for perennial crops, specifically fruits and nuts
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Despite the crucial role that woody perennial crops such as fruits and nuts play in our diets, as well as their importance for global economies, biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, traditional breeding methods for these crops remain slow and labour-intensive due to long gestation periods (juvenile phase) and complex genetics.
This hinders the timely development of perennial breeds to cope with challenges like climate change, pests and diseases, impacting among others crop productivity. Developing user-friendly tools that can be effectively transferred to breeders will boost the impact and efficiency of breeding programs for perennial crops.
Detailed Call Description
Proposals should:
- develop new and/or improved tools and methods aimed at shortening generation time and overall breeding cycle in perennial crops, while enhancing sustainability traits such as pest and disease resistance, yield stability, quality and adaptation to climate changes;
- assess the scalability and accessibility of the tools and methods and ensure the provision of the required dataset and info for their effective implementation;
- implement genomic selection tools and models – taking into account interactions between genotypes and environment – into actual breeding schemes for perennial crops and study the empirical results of these models to determine their accuracy, reliability, and applicability and improve their effectiveness for commercial settings;
- validate the tools across different species or breeding objectives to ensure reliability and replicability and develop standardized protocols and guidelines for their use in consultation with breeders to facilitate the effective adoption and utilisation of the tools/methods;
- evaluate the newly developed tools and methods for potential trade-offs, unintended outcomes and potential effects on the environment.
All breeding approaches are in the scope of this topic. Proposals should target fruit and/or nut crops.
Proposals may provide financial support to third parties (FSTP) to, for instance, cross-test the tools developed in different species and facilitate the engagement of SMEs for testing in commercial settings.
Proposals should build on the results of relevant projects funded under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe and ensure collaboration with relevant ongoing projects.
Proposals are encouraged to consider, where relevant, the data, expertise and services offered by European research infrastructure in the environment, biological and food domains.
The projects under this topic are relevant to the EU policies related to the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food by promoting plant breeding innovations, including new genomic techniques (NGTs), the Commission communication on: Building the future with nature: Boosting Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing in the EU and the Life Sciences Strategy.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Expected EU contribution per project: €6.00 million.
Thematic Categories
- Agriculture - Farming - Forestry
- Agriculture - Food
- Environment and Climate Change
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Rural development
- Small-Medium Enterprises and Competitiveness
Eligibility for Participation
- Associations
- Businesses
- Educational Institutions
- Farmers Unions
- Farmers, Agriculturalists
- Legal Entities
- Natual person / Citizen / Individual
- NGOs
- Non Profit Organisations
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Producer Associations
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Services Providers
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia,
P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Person:
Marcia Trillidou
Scientific Officer A’
Email: trillidou@research.org.cy